


Animals

by Mattchewy



Series: Animals: The Breaker Saga and other Stories [1]
Category: Guardians of the Galaxy (Comics), Guardians of the Galaxy (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types, Zootopia (2016)
Genre: AU Rocket, Caring, Crime Fighting, Detectives, Drama, F/M, Fanfiction, Gay, Gay Male Character, Gen, Hidden memes, M/M, Marvel Cameos, Organized Crime, Original Character(s), Psychological Drama, RocketXAsher, Science Fiction, Spoilers for zootopia, Superpowers, Violence, War Crimes, Zootopian Rocket
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-06
Updated: 2019-03-31
Packaged: 2019-04-18 23:59:01
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 29
Words: 33,455
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14224674
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mattchewy/pseuds/Mattchewy
Summary: Chicago is gripped by a terrible killing, one that brings together a former cop turned government agent, two coyote siblings, and a gun-crazy raccoon. As the secrets get darker, the team is forced to face the dark side of the world created by those who are weak...and those who are strong.





	1. Victor

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chicago. A city of crime and business.

****

**Animals**

 

_"In the end, our true nature that we hide is the very thing we need for survival. We must all become animals to survive."_

_-_ Source Unknown

 

It racked through his mind like a bullet. His actions leading up to this moment. And now he stood at the precipice. The end of the road he and others traveled on. 

The wolf held the world's salvation in his grip and knew how this would end. But he had made up his mind and aimed the gun downwards.

He pulled the trigger, and it was over.

* * *

 

 

**Several months ago**

**March 17, 2018**

**Demoisse Auto Parts**

**8:55 P.M**

"Victor! Get the heck over here!"

Victor chuckled. Demoisse needed help again, like always. The old otter always called him over for the most trivial problems that were easy to fix. The bobcat had way better reach for certain cars that the otter had no chance of fixing with his species difference.

"Coming!" Victor sped through the mostly empty garage, before finally making it over to the Demoisse's car. The otter was underneath it, tools piled all around him.

The bobcat folded his arms. "What do you need now, gramps?"

The otter rolled out from under the truck, dusting himself off before standing up. "Well.. it's not the car if that's what your wonderin'"

Victor sighed. "Then why did you call me over here then?"

The otter reached inside his pocket, pulling out an envelope with a messy paw-written name on it.

"Some fella dropped this by. Think he knew you."

Victor snatched it out of Demoisses hand, before putting it in his pocket to read later.

 Victor had very few friends in Chicago, and he had no idea who could have sent this letter. He kept his expression neutral as he looked at Demoisse. "Who brought it?"

The otter shrugged. "Had a hoodie on. Thought it was a pred, but the odd thing was... they had no tail."

Victor shrugged. "I'll keep that in mind." He had started to go back to the front of the garage before he felt the otter tap his shoulder.

"Before you go... thank for all your hard work. You've helped me keep this place in business even at this old age. I've got my daughter's birthday to plan for, so I'll let you go early. I'll close up the shop after you go."

Victor was surprised. Demoisse rarely let his workers off early. Victor smiled. "Thanks.. Boss."

He grabbed his stuff that was near the front of the garage, then exited out into the city.

Chicago was a bright, bustling city at night, full of all sorts of mammals. But crime-stained its streets during this time. While there was more of a push for more cop patrols at night, not many people roamed around at night unless they had a close destination or were looking for trouble.

 Victor knew his way around the streets, even though he had only been here for a few years. He mainly went down the safest routes back to his place, well lit and with groups of people. But tonight he took a shorter route back to his apartment, one that cut through several blocks that some considered dangerous. He knew he was fine here. Not many mammals want to get in fight with a bobcat.

As he walked, he put his hand in his pocket, feeling the envelope. He snatched it out of his pocket, and opened it with his claw. It was folded, and he opened it with anticipation. 

It was after reading it that he wished he had ignored it. Or thrown it in the trash before he opened it. Or done something else. 

He read over it again, just to make sure that it was real. And by the time he finished, he realized he shouldn't have done that.

He panicked, running through alley after alley as if something was hunting him. Finally, he ran into an alley that had no cameras near it... and didn't come out the other side. 

50 minutes after that, Victor Sarrendo was found dead near his apartment complex. No trace of a letter, nothing. Not even the envelope. 

But the part that confused the CPD was the state of the body. A perfect cut across the body wasn't what killed him. The blood loss wasn't the thing that killed him. It was a heart attack that killed him. And the killer knew that. It was the only organ left in the bobcat's body when they found him. All the rest, gone.

No suspects, no motive, no idea of how this case will be solved. 

* * *

 

Sometimes, the wolf didn't want to wake up in the morning. Not in a "I hate my life" way, but more like "I'm tired and want to do nothing" way. But his job required it. Actually, former job.

The phone buzzed again, some pop ringtone that he set randomly when he was first adding contacts to it. He had hated it at first, but now he only kept it to remind himself that it was just a part of his life. 

He trudged over to pick it up, flicking it open. "Fen here."

A female voice spoke loudly into his ear."Major needs you for this new case. Got a murder that we need your-"

"No." He was ready to push the off button before he sighed, and put it back up to his ear.

It appeared the operator hadn't noticed his response, still going on about the murder. "- and he has no organs left. Just a heart. Major says you worked with cases like this, right?"

Fenrir sighed. "And it was cases like that led me to my retirement. What makes this different from some other organ snatcher?"

The wolf heard the sound of papers shuffling, before it stopped. The operator spoke again. "Wouldn't those snatchers take the heart too?"

"It's rare actually. Not many mammals have the same organ structure as others. Most organs are either wasted or sold for pitiful amounts to mammals who think they can be Frankenstein. Anyway, is there anything else?"

He heard more papers being shifted, before he heard the operator speak up again. "He wants you to look over everything at the scene. Before we have to move the body."

The wolf grumbled, placing the phone on his desk before getting dressed. He grabbed a old pair of jeans and a gray shirt. "I'm still going to need payment for this. I'm technically done with working on cases. I don't have a job." Technically, he was right. But Fenrir was a Freelancer now, and no-one, even the Major, knew the exact circumstances of the job. 

Fenrir could feel the annoyance of the operator as he put the phone back to his ear. "He'll tell you the details once you arrive. I've seen the pictures from the scene. Haven't seen this much blood splattered since they showed us that training video on edged weapons."

The operator continued. "Anyway, I have to get back to the paperwork on this. The location is at 655 North Cicero Avenue. Good luck!"

The phone cut off, making him realize he had not said anything about his choice of doing the job. 

"Damn."

He stifled a laugh as he remembered having to watch that same video back in his training days. The video in question, Surviving Edged Weapons, was shown to every cop in the district when he first entered the force. It was pretty realistic, even though it was originally done in Wisconsin. Even though it was educational, he had once seen it posted online, with commentators wanting to see more.

He stuffed his phone in his pocket, while also grabbing his keys. Fenrir quickly put on his jacket, black with a Kevlar frame interlaced on the inside. 

He left his pistol, a Colt 1911 with a dark green grip, in his drawer under lock and key. While many cities in the United States had strict gun laws, cities like Chicago was one of the few with little legislation on gun laws. Zootopia was the only city in the U.S that had outlawed guns outright. This hadn't stopped smuggling though. Most of the smuggling was started in Chicago, with dealers going to other cities around the country, with most activity centering in Zootopia.

He stood at the door, feeling conflicted as thoughts went through his mind. Why didn't he just say no? Why didn't he just hang up? Why not just say he was busy, or on a date or some boring bullshit? 

He shrugged. Maybe he just liked the hunt. The feeling of finding some sort of resolution. That's what drove him.

He opened the door and walked out into a new day.

* * *

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> https://discord.gg/A4TdkjT Discord Link for Rocket fans and Fanfic writers.


	2. Heart Breaker

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Freelancer Initiative: A group of mammals with High-tech equipment that works with oversight from the North Mammalian World Organization (NMWO). Agents are trained to respond to high level threats and situation. Agents are pulled from police and military forces from all over the world. While many still work for their old jobs, some freelancers decide to work in other places undercover. The identity of a freelancer is kept secret even from the police and military unless there is a possible international incident that requires working alongside these forces.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Freelancer Initiative is more like the Division from the aptly named "The Division" video game. They are set to deal with threats in all the Allied countries in Mammalia from the United States to Britain.

**March 18, 2018**

**Chicago**

* * *

 

 He never liked going over murder scenes. Maybe it was the blood or smell, but just the bodies made him a little sick. Crime families were not usually lenient on troublemakers, often times "donating" their bodies to organ sellers before leaving whats left in the streets. But Fenrir had no idea why the Major would call him on a case like this. It seemed like the usual case of an unlucky mammal getting into the wrong place at the wrong time.

By the time Fenrir had made it out to the front of the complex, he already saw the major amount of traffic on the street, cars of various sizes all locked in together. The wolf sighed. "Walking it is."

Thankfully, the location was not as far away as he thought it would be, only requiring a 30-minute walk. He didn't mind as much as he thought he would. Being up this early meant fewer people on the sidewalks, allowing him to move at a reasonable pace.

It was 10:30 by the time he arrived on the scene, an alleyway surrounded by police vehicles and yellow tape. He flashed his ID to the nearby officer, who let him through into the gruesome murder scene. 

And it was gruesome. There was a chalk etching on the ground of where the victim had laid, splayed out in pain. Blood painted the opposite wall in a huge splatter. It was like the aftermath of a Tarantino film. The wolf waited as he heard the sound of loud footsteps behind him.

"This is a doozy, ain't it?" Major Anderson stood behind the wolf, an elk who walked with a noticeable limb. He waited as the wolf turned around.

"Major" Fenrir did a short salute, despite that he was not on the force anymore. He respected the major, It was the only reason he actually went out here in the first place.

"Fenrir. Glad to see you here." Anderson held a folder filled with files, most likely related to the case.

Fenrir folded his arms together. "So, why do you need me? I'm not working with the police anymore, A. I'm not the guy you want."

The elk nodded. "Exactly. When we found the body, the CIA swooped up like a vulture. We've only had so little information on everything, but I believe your... friends may help break this case open without having to go through mountains of tape."

Anderson knew of Fenrir's recruitment by the Freelancer Initiative, he had been the one to recommend him to them. Delaware Anderson was one of the original founders of the Initiative back in 1985, under the instruction of Takashi Oda. Takashi Oda was the mastermind behind the Initiative and gave the North Mammalian World Organization the resources and technology to fund it. Despite his direct actions in the making of the Freelancers, no one knew the true identity of Takashi. Not even those who worked with him. 

Fenrir took the files, sighing as he glanced over them for a few minutes.

"So, they took his organs?" Fenrir could see that the murder was not a pretty sight. He bet that the mammal under the cloth was getting a closed casket funeral.

The organ trade was elusive in Chicago. While not many organs were able to be used between species, there were some organs in high demand, like kidneys and hearts. Victor was possibly the victim of one of these organ gangs, taking everything that was still functional and leaving the rest to rot. Fenrir saw them as one of the worst offenders in his days on the force. Many of them never regretted their actions, and saw them as "culling the herd". True monsters.

"Fen, did you hear me?" Anderson looked at the wolf with annoyance. Fenrir realized he had lost himself in his thoughts.

"Sorry, Anderson. What did you say?" The wolf waited as Anderson began to continue speaking.

"Anyway, I was saying that they only left his heart. And we soon figured out why." Anderson motioned for Fenrir to turn through the files until they came on the heart.

"When a patrol found him, he was dead for around 50 minutes. We entered all the details in, documented the scene, took in the body. We barely get everything ready in our files right before the CIA strolls in. They confiscated everything but I got some of it out. I think I know why they wanted this case under wraps."

The wolf came upon the picture of the heart and realized instantly why the Major wanted help. The picture of the heart showed it on a table next to Victor's corpse. The heart was there, untouched, still connected to the bobcat. The heart had a metal square in it, dark grey metal with a port on it. But the wolf could see that the heart was still pink, still active as if the owner was alive. And it was alive, was somehow in the process of beating.

Fenrir was stunned. "How... how is this possible?"

The elk shrugged. "I have no idea. They swore us to secrecy about this. They wired everything. So I had to go to the only person they might not expect."

"Me." Fenrir thought as he stared at the heart, an unnatural organ that was still alive even though no blood ran through it.

Anderson nodded, walking the two of them out to the edge of the crime scene.

"Fen, show this to Takashi. He knows tech like this. Hell, he probably built this. And that's what might scare me the most." The elk shivered.

Anderson was right to be scared. Takashi was a man who limited his tech to those he trusted. The fact that something of this caliber was here in some low-level street thug means something bad is coming. 

Fenrir and Anderson separated, saying their goodbyes and each heading off to their destinations. Fenrir knew where he had to go.

Freelancer HQ.

 

* * *

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about being so behind on chapters! School and work make this not as easy to update, along with writers block. Hopefully I'm able to update more in the later weeks.  
> Next chapter will be more on the Freelancers, and more new characters, including a familiar face!


	3. The Freelancers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fenrir heads to Freelancer HQ, hoping to find out how to handle this new case.

 

**March 18, 2018**

**Chicago**

* * *

 

The Freelancers had many safehouses, some near major landmarks, to act quickly in case of terrorist or chemical attacks. But the Freelancer HQ was the main hub that tied them all together. Situated in a plain warehouse, the majority of it was built underground when the organization was first started. Designed like a cold war bunker, the HQ housed loads of manpower, weapons, and enough room for 5,000 people. The Freelancer Headquarters was a tremendous monument built in secret to keep the public out of Freelancer affairs. And for 30 years the bunker has been the stronghold of the Chicago Branch of the Freelancer Initiative.

While it would be hard for outsiders to get inside the building, all it took for a Freelancer to enter was an ID card and a security check. Fenrir was ready as he went past metal detectors, x-ray machines, and other devices used to check for possible rouge agents. It was very rare, so rare that not many current agents even remembered one of their own going rouge, but Takashi never really talked about the exact situation that occurred. But whatever had happened, these security measures were necessary in order to weed out possible traitors.  

Finally, Fenrir had made it down the main hallway, passing into the elevator and sighing as the doors closed. "Goddamn."

Thankfully, the elevator went down to the bottom quickly, opening into the main lobby of the HQ. It was always quiet down here because, despite the large compound, not many people were deployed full time. The majority of Freelancers were stationed at other safe-houses across the country, and others were embedded inside criminal organizations to spy and report on possible activities. Fenrir was one of the 125 mammals stationed here on site, under the command of Samantha Bowman, the director of North-east Freelancer Division. 

The wolf walked into Bowman's office, files in his paw. Sam Bowman, a coyote, was the one in control of the entire Division, with her Brother, Asher, being her second-in-command. Some mammals under her command would consider her harsh, but those close to her could see a rare soft side that still held a strong core. She, along with a few other mammals around the base, was one of the few people that Fenrir really was friends with on a daily basis.

Sam sat in the usual place, in her chair behind an extremely cluttered desk. She sighed, placing a paw against her head of brownish-gold fur. Despite the looks of it, she always kept everything organized, even when it might seem messy. She kept herself busy with the work. Despite the amount of secrecy placed in Freelancer, there was way too much downtime. So now the coyote looked through old missions, just to not get bored. Her ears perked up at the sound of footsteps at her door.

She waited, then spoke. "Enter."

Then entered Fenrir, golden eyes and grey fur that would make most females come rushing. But Sam knew he didn't swing that way. She just saw him as a close friend and comrade.

The coyote smirked at the obviously tired wolf. "You're up early. Don't you usually sleep in?"

The wolf nodded. "Yeah. But Anderson rang me up. Old elk always looking for a favor after I retired from the force." 

Sam nodded, brushing a few files off the desk as she attempted to make her desk look presentable. "And what favor makes you come here so early? I know you avoid this place like the plague due to all the security we have." Like Fenrir, Sam disliked how much the security has turned up over the past years. There was just way too much for one incident that even she had little knowledge of.

Fenrir walked over to the desk, placing the files down on the table. "Anderson thinks there's some conspiracy with this guys death and the CIA. And some weird thing with Takashi's tech. Like out of a zombie movie or some shit."  

Sam picked them up, pawing through them with a indifferent expression. When she came upon the picture of the heart, she had a small look of shock, before smirking.

"Well, this is interesting. This is not Takashi tech. Pretty damn close though." She pulled out the picture of the still pink beating heart, with the dark metal device embedded in it.

"It's not?"" Fenrir never really got into the history of the mammal's technology. He knew that Takashi had created many new inventions, some related to medical needs for drug addiction and other devices regulated for certain situations. And that was just what the public was given. Takashi was the main supplier of Freelancers tech, giving them the edge over common terrorists with drones and equipment. Not many of Takashi's tech leaked out into the criminal circle unless it somehow goes under the radar.

"The metal structure is dark grey. Takashi's Heartmod's are usually a lighter grey. Also, seems like there's a extra hole right here." Sam pointed to the device, and Fenrir could see it had a small hole, small enough for a needle. "This has to be Black Market. They sell mods for drug users and other undesirables, mostly to get a profit for both the drugs and more money from a customer. Can't have their customer dying on them."

Fenrir shrugged. "Yet he's dead. Still, how the hell is the heart still going?" 

Sam packed up the rest of Fenrir's files from her desk, organizing them together neatly as she could. "There's a "bug" with the older versions of Heartmods, where they continue beating even after the host died. They fixed it before I was born, but It's still around in these older models."

The wolf sighed. "So, now what?" Fenrir felt like nothing had really been answered. Yeah, he found out about the bobcat's phantom heart, but he wanted to find out a motive or at least some sort of starting point. He was never really the detective sort, he was mostly the one knocking doors and taking down suspects. He enjoyed that part of the job back then. Now he had nothing to do except find something to keep himself entertained.

Sam had gotten the files together, and now held them all in her paw. "Well, its possible that the people who sold him the heartmod got mad at him, possibly for some slight, killed him, and took his organs to show that they don't fuck around. Pretty brutal, right?"

Fenrir nodded. His time on the force had let him see the true side of Chicago, one that was not glamorous or normal. People killed in thousands of ways, multiple crimes, things that he wished he had never seen. It was a hard life that he had lived then. The dark side of Chicago pulled mammals into it, turning them into animals fighting for their lives. It was that dark side that forced him to leave, and ye-

"Earth to Fen?"

Fenrir could see he had gotten lost in thought, and had ignored Sam at the door. "You coming?"

"To where?"

Sam groaned in frustration. "My brother! He has a contact that has dealt with the Black Market. He wants to meet somewhere public. Let's go!"

* * *

 

**Location Unknown**

The fox sighed, paws tensing up as he entered the numbers into a old phone. As soon as it rang, it was picked up.

The voice that spoke was old, yet also contained a willingness to put up a fight. "Who the hell it thi-"

"Redd." The foxes voice was young yet has a twinge of annoyance with having to put up with the person on the phone. 

The voice on the other side muttered something before returning to the call. "Well, is it done?"

Redd smirked. "Done exactly the way you wanted it. Everyone thinks its a classic stab and grab while CIA's going in circles trying to find who killed their man. They don't call me Crimson for nothing, Russo.

The voice on the other side let out a sigh of relief. "  _Grazie agli dei,_ he would have done a number on us. What about the heartmod?"

The fox stopped. "It's.... dealt with. If it's a Black Market heartmod, the CIA have no chance of tracking it back to you."

"Then what about Freelancer? You knew their ways. Do you think they will-"

"They won't. Just rest easy Russo, you're free. Goodbye."

The fox clicked off the phone, silencing Russo before he could speak anymore. He had heard enough from the paranoid rat. Freelancer, really? Why would they get into a case like this?

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A heartmod would be a more advanced pacemaker. Think of it like a old pacemaker being a flip phone while a heartmod is a Iphone 8. Both get the job done, but the better one is more expensive and has more features. And like Iphones, you got people selling them on the black market.


	4. Rocket

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fenrir and Sam meet up with Asher's contact, who may know how to trace Black Market tech back to their sellers.

* * *

**March 18, 2018**

**Chicago**

* * *

 

 "This is the place?" In front of Fenrir stood a dilapidated trailer, rusted with tinted windows. It was inside a abandoned trailer park, trash all around the area.

Looking around the trailer park, it seemed as if no one lived there. It must have closed around the 90's or 00's, leaving little left of its previous inhabitants. 

"Seems to be. Asher said he was here." Sam had changed her clothes, going for a more casual look with a military green hoodie and grey pants.

The two headed for the door of the trailer, with Fenrir in front.

The wolf stepped up to knock on the door right before it opened by a sliver. Fenrir could see a green eye staring through the opening of the door. It narrowed before the door closed again. He could hear several locks being clicked off before the door finally opened.

”Get inside, wankers!” The voice was subdued in a thick Irish accent as it motioned for the two mammals to enter.

* * *

Fenrir heard the door close behind him as he took in his surroundings. While the trailer outside had been dilapidated, the inside was as clean as a trailer could be. Various electronics were scattered everywhere, along with several boxes of ammo. 

Fenrir could see Asher on the left side of trailer, next to a raccoon with a welding helmet on his face. His left arm was placed on the table, a prosthetic created by Freelancer tech. Several of His black protective covers on his prosthetic arm had been taken off, exposing the wiring and metal parts of the inside. It looked like the raccoon was finishing up with his work, helping Asher lock the covers in place.

Fenrir turned around at the one who let them in. It was a rabbit, grayed fur and black spots on her eyes. She stared back at the new arrivals with an air of suspicion. 

“So you’re Ash’s sister? Thought you’d be taller.” The bunny smirked as she spoke, her accent making her sound more sarcastic than most.

Ash had gotten his last cover on with a metal “snap” before getting up from his position. “Eli, don’t hastle them. They are just here for help from Rocket. We don’t need protection 24/7, so... scatter.”

Eil sighed, before opening the door and stepping out. “Holler if one of these guys goes crazy.”

The door shut, leaving the rest of the mammals in silence. Then the raccoon chuckled.

”She can seem blunt about visitors. Sorry about that.” “Rocket” had taken off the welding helmet, revealing blue eyes and a curious expression.

Fenrir shrugged, looking around at the messy state of the place. He did want to ask several questions, mostly about why the raccoon needed a bodyguard. But he knew they needed to get to the reason they were here. “So, Asher says you know about black market tech. We’ve got a dead bobcat with a Heartmod that we have no idea how he got it.”

The wolf could see Rocket’s eyes light up as he took in the request. The raccoon smirked as he made his way towards a nearby old computer, dusty and inactive. 

“He’s damn right.” He booted up as Asher made his way over to them.

Sam waited as Asher made his way over. “So, he seems... eccentric.” 

The older coyote smiled. “He’s a life saver. Rocket is just a great guy. Knows his way with all types of technology. When I got in trouble while undercover with the Madris a few years back, my arm got hit by a lucky bullet. Shattered a servo inside. He was able to fix it in less than an hour. He’ll help you with this stuff.”

Soon, Rocket has gotten everything ready, and now waited for evidence. “You got it with you?”

Sam handed the raccoon the picture of the Heartmod as he looked over it quizzically before he chuckled.

”That’s pretty messed up. Least you got a clear picture of it.” He typed in several things onto the keyboard, paws moving like clockwork before he hit the enter button. The screen flashed before it displayed a picture of a gangly looking weasel.

”Well, you got your guy. I’ll print out the details. But first...” He stretched back in his chair. “I want in.”

Fenrir grimaced. Not many Freelancer operations used outside assets, even less for those who might be criminals. If Asher knew the raccoon from his old undercover days, it’s likely that Rocket is wanted.

But he wanted to find this guy that killed Victor. Not because of a sympathy for the bobcat. But because he was tired of cases like that where justice was never served. And Anderson gave it high importance. Something was wrong with this killing. And Fenrir wanted to find the reason why. 

“Fine. But you are responsible for all your gear. We don’t hand out stuff on a whim. Also, you do any crimes before, during, or after our operation, you are going away for a long time. And not in a fancy prison.”

Rocket nodded with a grin on his face. “I’ll be on my best behavior then. Just gimme some action.

* * *

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was a tough chapter, mostly because most of the huge story moments are still coming, and I’m actually uploading this on vacation! Finished finals with good grades and ready to write more for Animals.


	5. The First Step

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Freelancer prepares to find answers, but not everything is that simple.

 

* * *

 

**March 18, 2017**

 

* * *

 

The city was falling into darkness as the van made its way towards the apartment complex. It was Asher’s car, a perfect fit for storing gear and other items. While Rocket already had his gear set up, the rest of the team needed to adjust their gear for the new mission. Tranq weapons, pistol models for both Asher and Fenrir while Sam had a pump-action shotgun. They needed this guy alive for questioning.

While Rocket had grumbled about this requirement, he still had something to compensate for it. A giant gun, one that had to be lifted over his shoulder like an RPG launcher. This was meant to be a taser, meant to work with larger mammals. When Fenrir asked how it works with a smaller mammal, he shrugged. “It adjusts automatically. Won’t fry him... too much.”

At 10:00 pm, the rag-tag group was now at the weasels location. They stepped out of the van, stretching their legs out.

Fenrir looked over the place. It was a modern 10 floor apartment complex with concrete structure and glass windows. It seemed barren, looking almost abandoned if not for the few cars around.

He turned back to the team. “We don’t know what to expect in there. Could be anything in there, so stay on guard.” 

Fenrir could hear the raccoon scoff. “Yeah, sure. This guy is totally dangerous. I bet I could fight him with my arms behind my back.”

The wolf’s eyes narrowed. “Don’t be cocky, Rocket. You need to treat this with a serious face. This weasel is a tech dealer. He’s probably going to be protected by at least some professionals.” He could see Rocket roll his eyes in an annoyed manner.

Rocket sighed. “I can handle this shit. Don’t worry your little tail, big guy.”

* * *

“Is he really this smug?” Fenrir had separated the teams into two units, him and Sam looked over the first 5 floors while Asher and Rocket sweeper the top 5.

They were now going down a carpeted hallway, mostly empty rooms along with the few that actually had mammals. They checked every room, making sure to find the most obvious exits in case the target tried to run.

Sam shrugged as the two made their way to the elevator. “You should be asking Ash. He’s the one who knows Rocket the most. I’ve only talked with him like three times. But I do agree with you, he just has a aura of... smugness.”

Fenrir laughed at that as he pushed the up button. “Exactly. The guy wants to be the one ahead of me. Seems too cocky for me.” The two remained silent as they entered the waiting elevator.

The radio screeched out in the silence. Fenrir reaches to answer it. “What’s the problem?”

He could hear a sense of worry in Asher’s voice as he spoke. “We found him on the 8th floor. But you’re not going to like this.”

* * *

 

Darius Lovell was dead. As dead as any weasel could be. The place was in shatters, furniture everywhere along with specks of blood. The weasels dying face showed he didn’t expect his attacker to take him out. Like Victor, he was cut along the stomach, though Asher could see there were smaller marks along the wrists and chest. Possibly as an attempt to defending themselves that failed.

”That’s... fucked up.” The raccoon looked a lot less bold than he was before. For once, Fenrir could agree with him.

Another lead was lost. The team now stood at yet another murder scene.

Asher put his paws around his face. ”We need to look around. Find out why he was killed. Fen, you know what to do.” 

The wolf nodded. His sense of smell was once one of the best on the force when he was an officer. Now he had to use it to find who killed this mammal. 

Digusting as it would be, he had to look over the dead body. He went up to the weasels crumbled body, having a quick sniff. Then he noticed some wrong. 

“I don’t smell anything.” Fenrir sniffed again, confirming the odd scent of nothing.

Asher's eyes looked over the body. “What the hell do you mean, nothing?”

The wolf paced along the small room. “It’s not like nothing. It’s like... absence of it. Like it was removed.” 

Asher sighed. There was nothing there. Not even a scent of the murderer. Unless...

”If it’s a removed smell, can you still track it?”

Fenrir stood still as he took in Asher’s statement. He put his paw to his front of his head. “That sounds impossible. But...”

He went back to the body, letting himself take in the smell, then seeing if it was anywhere else. And it was, a mix of “nothing” and regular smells went out the hallway, right up to a room a few doors away.

Rocket looked surprised. “Didn’t think that could work. If was anyone else, they would just think they erase themselves from the scene. But you follow the eraser and...”

They now stood at room 831, protected by a hickory wood door with a lock. Fenrir cracked his knuckles. “Let’s get this guy.”

Motioning for the team to stack up on the door, he attached a small device to the lock. It made a “ping” sound, then a light went green as the door unlocked. Fenrir grabbed the handle, then thrust it open, aiming his gun into the room.

Inside, the room as sparingly furnished, with a great view of the city in the back. And at that end of the room was a fox. Fenrir could smell that “nothing” smell on him, like an anomaly in a set of code. Like it should not exist. The team breached the room, checking the corners as they moved up towards the Fox. 

The fox was wearing a black turtleneck, his arms exposed. Fenrir could see his arms had scars on them, not recent but ones that stood out over years of fighting. The fox turned towards them, dark brown eyes staring back at them.Part of the left side was heavily burned, along with a single scar across his right eye.

The fox grinned. “And here you are. Freelancer.”

* * *

Fenrirs blood went cold. He could see out of the corner of his eye that both Bowmans had also stiffened but keeping their guns on the fox.

The fox kept his smirk, looking over the approaching group. “The... raccoon was an unexpected variable, but I can manage with that.” 

Fenrir could the raccoon begin to start up his gun, but Asher told him to stop with a worried look in his eyes. And so the raccoon did not fire but waited for the fox to mess up just so he could waste him.

Fenrir had barely taken another step before the fox glared at him. “Stay still. I’m not finished yet.”

Asher sighed before leveling his pistol at the fox. Before he could do anything, it suddenly shattered, gun pieces and glass going everywhere. The coyote yelped as he fell, the shock of the gun exploding forcing him down. Thankfully, the shrapnel did not hit him, leaving his hand hurting. Sam looked back at the fox in anger as she picked Asher up.

The fox’s expression remained neutral as he looked over at the two coyotes. “Unfortunately, the next shot will go into his head if you try anything. Including you, raccoon.”

Rocket’s expression dimmed as he realized what the fox meant and let his weapon dropped with a loud crash.

Fenrir was the only one who had kept his pistol on the fox, and he knew why. He was testing them.

The fox sighed. “I am truly sorry. But I do need your undivided attention. But first, my introduction.”

He did a mock bow, before looking back at the team.

”I am Redd Ishi. And this is where your investigation ends.”

* * *

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Although i wanted to save most of this chapter for once i get back from vacation, I wanted to release the first part of going into the world building of Animals, and its implications for Zootoopia. It will be a very long way until I start actually getting into the characters from the movie, but most of this fanfic will be about my Oc’s (and Rocket). I’m hoping to add more to it once I’m actually at a computer. This was all done on my IPhone! Funny, right?


	6. Predator versus Predator

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ishi isn’t going to go down without a fight. The team has no idea what they are in for.

* * *

 

**March 18, 2018**

* * *

 

 

_Well, shit. This is not going to go in our favor._

The killer of Victor and Darius now stood in front of them, and they couldn’t do anything without a sniper spilling their brains out on the cheap carpet. Now, Fenrir was in the middle point between pissed off and furious.

Redd was grinning, his arms wide as he looked over the team. “You can just walk away, you know. But I know your type. You want justice for these dead mammals. Even if they were criminals.”

The wolf glared at him, saying nothing as the fox too stared back at him.

Before anyone could react, Asher had made his move. One devestating punch, to the side of the fox’s face, sent Redd reeling, leaving him several meters away, sprawled on the ground.

Fenrir waited for a shot, but nothing happened as the fox began to get back up. He could see the fox had some inhaler device in his hand, clear with a red liquid inside.

Redd pushed it up to his muzzle, pressing down and letting the liquid go inside his mouth. He had closed his eyes, sighing in some sort of relief.

Asher threw his left arm forward for a knockout punch, but his face reared in shock as the fox caught it in an instant.

When Redd opened his eyes, they were dark red, like days old blood. He face contorted in some sort of insane smile.

”MY turn.”

* * *

 

Redd lunged foward, flinging Asher into a wall with a heavy bang. Asher grunted in pain, bringing up his arm as Redd punched at him. Blocking the punch, the coyote rammed a leg towards the fox’s chest, but his leg was grabbed and forced him down on the ground.

Fenrir attempted to run to the coyote’s aid, but a shot that hit the ground forced him to watch in horror.

Redd still kept that ghastly grin as the wrestled Asher down. “Tell me, do you really think that doing this will get you any awards? A promotion? Your organization will hide this all away! You should have just wal-“

But Redd’s monologue was interrupted by a high voltage set of barbs going into his back, courtesy of Rocket Raccoon. The raccoon yelled in fury as the electricity in the air became charged. Fenrir had to give him props, he knew when to take advantage of the right moment.

The attack was ruined when a shot suddenly hit a vital part of the gun, slowing it down as the raccoon swore at the unseen sniper. But that shot gave Redd the chance to rip the barbs out with a strong slash of his claws, before Turing his attention to the new threat.

Rocket yelped as the fox flung himself toward the raccoon, barely having time to do anything before Redd had gripped Rockets neck.

Redd began to choke the life of the raccoon, his eyes stared at Rocket with an angered intensity. His voice came out in a mumbling sense of pure anger. “That Hurt.”

Redd was interrupted again as Asher had gotten back up, and grappled the fox back towards the large windows. Rocket fell with a loud thump, gasping for breath. Sam and Fenrir grabbed him, pulling him into cover as the fight went on.

Redd look disoriented as the fight went on, yet it seemed every hit the fox took did nothing. Until Asher realized he had to use one last thing.

Overdrive.

it was highly experimental. It might wreck his arm. But he had to try.

Pulling his left arm back, it started to glow like it was heating up with high intensity. The servos began to relax before locked together in the most devastating combination.

With a yell, Asher let loose his fist into the fox’s chest. Unlike the last hits, this had an impact, flinging him across the room... and out the window.

Redd Ishi fell 8 floors down, right onto the decayed concrete. 

* * *

 

The team was exhausted as they took it all in. They found their murderer, and now he was dead. 

Asher sighed. Stuff like this could never be easy, could it?

He regrouped with the team, Fenrir and Sam were next to Rocket, who was taking a wrench to his ruined gun. 

“God damnit!” He threw the wrench down on the ground and grumbled as he left the gun on the ground.

Asher knelt down with the hurt raccoon. “You good?”

Rocket sighed. “Yeah. The fucking guy cut my neck with his claws but I can breathe. I’m fin-“ 

The raccoon was cut off as the coyote had gently dragged his fingers around his neck, checking for any bad cuts. Rocket blushed as Asher looked at his possible injuries with concern. Asher didn’t notice the raccoons discomfort as he was checked over.

Asher smiled and patted Rocket on the back. “You’re good. Nothing too bad.” He left the raccoon to his own devices as Asher walked to Fenrir.

Fenrir grimaced as the coyote made his way over. Even if he didn’t say anything, it was obvious the coyote was hurt.

”How the hell are we supposed to call this in?” Fenrir waited for the coyote to respond, but was cut off by a worried voice over by the windows.

”Guys?” Rocket looked worried as he stood at the edge of the broken window, looked down to the street.

The team went over to the window, then saw the reason for the raccoon's concern.

”Where did his body go?”

* * *

 

It was the waiting that Reynard hating. Waiting for his brother to come back was pure agony. Not because he knew the fox might not come back. But What will come back.

The moment the fox flew out of the window, he had packed up the bare remains of his snipers nest on the opposite building, then heading back to the black van that had transported them to the site.

It had been an hour since the fox flew out, his body hitting the ground with a loud crack. Reynard has hating seeing that. But it was natural now, seeing his brother die yet survive again and again. 

And he hated it.

Suddenly he heard the lock on the back open, and in came Redd, his turtleneck stained with blood and his back with small nicks from the raccoons gun.

Reynard has been tempted to shoot the raccoon in the head. But Redds mantra before the fight led to him shooting the gun instead. The orders he kept in mind as he never directly harmed the team.

They must not be harmed.

Direct orders from the White Lion. Orders that were meant to be followed fully. And not deviated at all.

Redd grumbled as he took off his ruined shirt. “Another ruined shirt.”

Reynard chuckled as he began to start the van. “Be glad you own hundreds of these.”

Soon they had made their way out into the main part of Chicago, blending into local traffic.

They had made their escape. But things are never simple for both sides of the coin.

* * *

 


	7. Give Me an Answer

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Redd lets himself think after the incident.

* * *

**March 19, 2018**

**Chicago**

* * *

Redd never slept.

Well, he had tried to sometimes, but closing his eyes just made see nothing, and the compound constantly flowing through him made it so that all bodily functions were not necessary.

Sure, he still had to do other things, but he could never sleep the same way he used to. He was just glad Reynard would never have this curse.

Redd laid back in the seat of the van as Reynard slept in the back, the night sky illuminated by the lights from buildings. He had parked in a old lot, far enough away from the crime scene that no one would think that it was suspicious. 

The last thing he wanted was anymore unnecessary deaths.

While the White Lion did give his orders not to tangle with Freelancer, he had still let them come at him. And he had shown his capabilities.

The younger Redd would have just disabled them, then let someone else clean them up. But orders were orders. He kept that mantra in his mind as he scratched the burn on the side of his face.

There's only so much technology can fix in this world.

Suddenly, his phone buzzed, prompted him to pick it up and answer it immediately.

"Redd here." He displayed no emotion as he answered the contact on the other side. 

A robotic voice answered. "So It's done?"

Redd sighed. "Yes. But Freelancer attempted to take me down. They must have connected the dots sooner than I anticipated. They attacked and I was forced to retreat."

He waited as the voice took in his answer. Then it continued. "Will this change the current arrangement with Russo?"

"No. Nothing has changed, and Russo will not know of this. Freelancer will be busy with other... problems while I deal with Russo. You know I can handle a rat." He spoke the last word with a hint of menace.

Redd heard a set of clicks before the call ended. He sighed a sigh of relief. That could have gone worse.

"Redd?"

He jumped as he heard Reynard behind, cursed as he had hit his head on the ceiling of the car. "Do you have to be so quiet? Damn!"

Reynard had rolled his eyes. "Who was that?"

Redd looked back at the now awake adult, who was sitting down on the floor. He grumbled as he turned off the phone. "Command wanted a update. I gave to them. None of your concern."

Reynard sighed, laying back down on the cold floor of the van. "Can you tell me something?"

Redd turned back to the younger fox. "Yes?"

"Will this get us back home? This mission?"

Redd cringed as he thought of his next words. "It's complicated. But I believe this will be the last one."

Reynard huffed as he attempted to get warm. "You've always said that. The last one was supposed to be that too."

Redd sighed, turning away from Reynard. "I had thought so too. But the White Lion wants the crime bosses here out of the way. Completely. We have no choice but to go further."

Reynard didn't speak again, letting Redd think about in his thoughts before smiling a bit.

"How about since we are not able to go back home yet, I tell you a story about it. One that you haven't heard."

Reynard immediately sat back up, eager to hear what the fox had to say. 

Redd smiled. "Even at 30, you still love to hear my stories. But this is a new one."

And so he began.

* * *

 

Once, I was born in a world called Terra. Terra was constantly at war. Mammals fought mammals. And there was no peace, no safety for even the strong predator or the weakest prey.

Until the Collaboration appeared out of the ashes. They had made the ultimate sacrifice, forced to cull the majority of the population in order to bring peace.

They made miracles out the ashes. The ability to regrow crops. Bringing back a blue sky. Creating new ways to live, to survive without hurting others.

But the most important thing was the bridge. A way to travel between worlds.

The Collaboration sent mammals out to find new worlds, new places to spread the advances that they offered.

And they found two worlds.

This one, and another.

You know of this world, where no war has destroyed everything one loved, yet mammals had not united together like we had.

And a world where only one species reigned over all, furless with desire to expand. They had similar technology to us, ready to help others.

But when the two worlds saw the advancements of Terra, and believed them to want to destroy them.

We were forced to fight, and closed the bridge forever.

And some mammals were closed off from their home. Like us.

So we still fight on to try and bring our worlds together, and bring peace to these three worlds.

* * *

 

Redd waited as Reynard took in the story.

"I... never heard that before. So that's why we are doing this? To go back home?"

Redd smiled. "Always. While you were born here, I had always wanted to bring you back to Terra. They had promised me that they would give us the location from where they put through suppilies and soldiers, but... they never do."

The fox put his paw on Reynard's shoulder. "Rest. By the end of this month, we will finally be home."

Reynard let himself lay back down as Redd turned forwards to the front of the van.

He let his eyes close for a second, taking in the darkness.

For the first time in a while, Redd let himself feel at peace.


	8. Hunt for Redd

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Days after Redd's escape, the team looks for a lead as dire plans are made against Freelancer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Make sure to leave a comment! I like criticism!

* * *

 

**March 25, 2018**

**Freelancer Safehouse, Chicago**

* * *

Fenrir and the team had been pouring through files for a least 2 hours. But it was a dead end.

Nothing. There was nothing concrete on this guy.

Redd Ishi was a ghost. No house. No jobs. No friends. Nothing that they could use to find him.

They had found a birth certificate, and a house he had lived in during his childhood. Redd was born in 1970, with him disappearing off the grid at 14. Birth parents were a dead end too, being immigrants from the Old Continents, where the only government besides the United States was. They raided the house, only to find it abandoned and empty. The name only appeared again when he was 19, in a adoption record for a 1 year old fox, no name on the record sadly.

Freelancer had nothing to go on. And Fenrir's hands were out of the investigation. Once they positively identified the guy, the main branch of Freelancer had taken over. They gave him "time off" in order to help him, but he knew it was to turn him away. Even the Bowman's had been forced out, which annoyed Asher the most. The first time in a few months of something interesting and he can't do anything about.

So they did the next best thing. Hack into the files of their own organization. It was a stupid move. At most would get them fined or fired. At worst, Jail time. But they had to do something.

* * *

 

Fenrir had to admit, Rocket was a natural at this. He got through most of the security in the first day after they were turned away, and now had compiled everything they needed on Redd. Too bad all this information was going nowhere.

He let himself lay back on the couch, feeling mentally exhausted. "That's everything?"

The raccoon in the nodded, narrowing his eyes over files. "Pretty much. This guy basically just went up and disappeared when he was an adult. The adoption record might have been important, but I looked up the place. Burned down in 98'. So... nothing."

Asher shrugged. "At least we know somewhat of what he's like. Late forties, fox, a really resilient fighter. Oh, and don't forget, psychopath murderer." 

Rocket listened, then his eyes went wide as he remembered something. He scrambled back to the computer, typing until he found himself in the Black Market page.

"I just realized, those guys Redd murdered... they must have been related somehow. Besides the heartmod thing."

Asher looked over Rocket's shoulder as he continued cross checking the two dead mammals, until...

"Well shit. I think I found the most probable place for him to go next."

 Rocket grinned as the computer lit up with the positive search. "You guys ever near of Rodrigo Russo?"

  

* * *

 

**Unknown Location**

* * *

 

"Redd, get up."

Redd jerked away from the voice as he was roused out of slience. Even though he did not sleep, he could still be startled sometimes. Especially by Kells.

The dark furred wolf had that sinister grin as he stared at Redd. If Redd ever thought of himeself as crazy, Kells was fucking insane.

Like Reynard, he was born on Terra 2 without ever seeing the homeland. His parents indoctrinated them into the livestyle of their home, telling them the weak would be purged. And Kells excelled at it. He never was distracted by the normal events in life, only keeping himself focused on whatever objective the White Lion gave him from back home. 

He had no limit to what he would do for the Collaboration.

And that scared the living crap out of Redd. 

Kells still towered over Redd's hunched form. "It's almost time. WL wants everyone in. Bring the runt with you."

Part of him wanted to rip out Kells's throat. The more sane half told him it would barely work. Almost all the home-trained warriors had some form of the Infinity formula inside them. Never allowing them to age and letting them cheat death. Well, only if you keep your head on. 

"Alright, fine." The fox slowly got up, letting himself stretch a little. 

He moved over to Reynard's still asleep form, lightly touching his shoulder. "Wake up."

Reynard grumbled, groaning as he slowly got up. Kells, satisfied that his job was done, left the room.

Redd waited outside to let Reynard get dressed, before the younger fox came out, dressed similar to what he was wearing a few days ago. Black shirt with black pants, and his gear vest.

The two navigated down the hall, up the the Situation Room where all the soldiers would meet.

White Lion's messages were very important. No one at the compound wanted to miss the meeting, since it was the only major chance of them seeing the world they had never been to.

They came out to the usual big set of chairs, situated around a large table. A blueish screen could be seen on top of the table. 

The room began to fill with the usual number of mammals. The collaboration was built on a equal world, where there was no divide between Predator and Prey. Nearly every type of mammal was there, from the smallest to the largest. Which is why the Situation Room was one of the biggest rooms in the compound.

As everyone had finally entered, the screen lit up, displaying a hologram of a silhouetted mammal. The room got quiet as the White Lion prepared to speak.

"The time has finally come. Phase one is almost complete. Once the crime barons are rid of, our operatives will be able to move the Ouroborus device to our main HQ. Team Alpha, you will be taking out the Harbor gang. Team Beta, The Russo's. Team Theta, The Slient 40's. Once they are dealt with, we will use the chaos to move our operations to our final destination. The true home of Freelancer. May the gods be with you."

The room repeated the final line as the screen went black. They began to file out, all going to different places to complete the first phase. Redd headed for the last set of rooms, which housed the cars that the team would use to get to Russo. Once this was over, He and Reynard would get their ticket to get out of here, and see the home he had never been to, and the home Reynard had only heard old stories of.

The Endgame was starting to finally fall together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can't wait to write more for Redd. While it is hard to see, he still has some sense of morality between his immortal state. Not many of his allies have that. And Reynard might not be related to Redd? Going to be awkward once that comes up.
> 
> Potential Voice Cast List  
> Jeremy Davies- Kells  
> Keith Szarabajka - “unannouched character”  
> Bradley Cooper - Rocket Raccoon


	9. Mr.Fear

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The team scrambles to get to Russo, but complications hinder their way.

* * *

  _Hello, My name is Mr.Fear_

_I wish I had a faster therapy_

_I've come to mind control your needs_

_Tonight I'm going to star all your leads_

_-Siames, Mr.Fear_

* * *

 

**March 25, 2018**

**Dawnfall Club**

* * *

 

They only had one lead. And it was here. Dawnfall. A club owned by the Rodrigo Russo, all legal of course. But he was one of the major owners of the Black Market, along with other members around the United States and the Old Continents.  

Redd had to be here. Or at least Russo would know something about his whereabouts.

So a paln was drawn together. Fenrir would sneak around the back, making his way to the rooftop and stay out of the way, while also looking out for hostiles. Asher and Rocket would enter the club, and do recon to find Redd and any of those associated with him. Sam stayed back at a nearby building, as recon, and in case shit went sideways. If they needed it, she would call in the cavalry. 

All of this still made Rocket nervous. "We sure we not going to get popped as so as we enter?"

The raccoon heard Sam chuckle in his earpiece as he and Asher moved towards the entrance. "From what I've seen, these guards employ non-lethal weaponry. You'll be fine. At most, Asher will have to carry your ass home."

Rocket grumbled as the two finally entered the club.

* * *

 

"All good on your end, Fen?" Sam's voice entered through the wolf's earpiece as he moved up the building. He had managed to get up from the nearby fire escape, then moved quietly towards the top of the club.

"Yep. No one yet. But I bet there's someone up here..." He stayed radio silent as he finally made it to the top. 

Crouching down, he immediately spotted a fox, staring out the other side of the rooftop. He could see a rifle on his back, along with a pistol on his side holster. Readying his weapon, Fenrir approached the figure.

His gun in his hands, he stepped silently, keeping his gun pointed at the fox. With a quick rush, he raised the pistol to the back of the fox's head.

"Paws up." Fenrir growled as he kept the gun to the fox's head. Ordering the fox to disarm, he then stepped back a bit, making sure to keep enough distance to neutralize if possible.

"You're not Redd, are you?"

The fox turned, revealing a quite different face from the one Fenrir had thought. He looked around the same age as him even. Which probably meant... 

"Well, shit. This got interesting."

* * *

 

It was always easy for him. The kill. Easy to not feel guilty if the one killed deserved it. He had killed many who had deserved it. And many that didn't. But Reynard didn't have to know that.

He didn't want Reynard to be like him. Which is why the minute he was finished with this job, he would take Reynard back to his home. The one he was forced to leave. To become guerrilla fighters, born to take lives for a home they had never seen. That is why he saved Rey. Partly to save him from a corrupt situation, and to make himself feel alive again. To have a reason to kill, to destroy, to live.

Russo was dead before anyone else had hit the ground. Even a 9mm had a devastating effect on smaller mammals, and that showed. His bodyguards were also simple to kill. Four headshots and they were down. All the years of work were accomplished in seconds.

Redd had to admit, he felt a small bit of pity for the rat. He had trusted the fox fully after he had killed those he thought were traitors, even though the true traitor was Redd all along.

"Redd." 

Redd was gathering the few documents left on Russo's desk, surprisingly big for a rat. He looked up as Kells was looking over a CCTV monitor.

"We have guests." Kells looked at the screen with annoyance.

The fox shrugged. "Send Bruno down. He'll deal with them." He went back to his work with gathering the important documents on their deals.

Kells grinned that sinister smile as he looked at the monitor with anticipation. "This is going to be Fun."

* * *

 "There's no one here?" Asher looked around the dance floor, his rifle in hand. Knowing Redd's capabilities, they had to go lethal this time. Rocket loved this idea, so now he could bring out his best weapons. None of his explosive ones though. The raccoon was sad about that.

The two crept through the darkened nightclub, no one in sight. Overlooking the floor was a large windowed area, windows dimmed. It was eerily quiet. Then, there was a sound, like a loud crack of something breaking off. The two mammals leveled their weapons at the sound, coming from the top of the club.

"What the hell wa-" The raccoon was cut off as a large object was thrown through the window, crashing through onto the floor.

Then a big figure came down, crashing onto the floor. A rhino, covered chest to toe in armor, staring at the two mammals with anger.

"Ah fuck. This is not going to go good."

* * *

 

Fenrir kept his pistol up as the fox stared back at him quizzically. "What?"

The wolf sighed. "It's... nevermind. Who the hell are you, and what are you doing here?"

The fox looked back at Fenrir. "I'm Reynard. Redd's my brother. And you are?"

Fenrir smiled a little bit, easing the tension down by a small bit. Keep the mammal calm, and he won't try to kill you when you let your guard down.

"Fenrir. I'm guessing you know exactly what Redd does? A murderer?"

Reynard's eyes narrowed as he kept his distance from the wolf. "He only kills the bad guys. Don't you guys like that?"

Fenrir growled as he got closer to the fox. "Bad guys? One of them was a CIA agent! That's not right at all!"

The fox's expression fell as Fenrir finished speaking. "W-what?"

Fenrir continued. "Victor was working with the CIA. Taking down Drug trades, Body mods, all that shit. Your brother cut him up like a science experiment! He mutilated him."

He saw the fox pale, stumbling back as he took it in. "That... he said he was a dealer... that Russo wanted him dead... it was the only way to get back home..." Fenrir looked at Reynard with a tinge of regret. It was clear that Reynard must have not been in the know about everything his "brother" did.

He was about to ask another question when Sam spoke back into his ear.

"Fen?" Her voice sound worried.

"Sam. What's wrong?" Fenrir kept his eyes on the fox as Sam spoke.

"We got a problem..."

* * *

 

The rhino roared, charging right at the two mammals, forcing them to dodge in opposite directions. Even then, they didn't get away unscratched. Rocket's gun fell from his hands, being thrown across the room by the almost impact.

Rocket's only defense was now across the room. Asher saw it, noticing Rocket was now defenseless. The rhino noticed it too, grinning as he approached the scrambling raccoon.

" _Kidogo dhaifu."_ The rhino attempted to grab the raccoon, but was stopped as Asher had gotten on his back.

The rhino yelled in frustration, trying to get the coyote off him. Rocket ran towards the gun as fast as could, quickly grabbing it before turning back to the rhino.

By the time Rocket had rushed to get the shotgun, the rhino had grabbed Asher, then started choking him against the wall. Asher could barely do anything as the rhino was choking the life out of him.

Rocket had to do something. He had to save Asher. He had to not be a coward.

It took seconds to decide, but it felt like hours. But knew what he had to do.

He charged at the rhino, turning the attention of the rhino to him. The rhino dropped Asher down on the floor, leaving him gasping for breath.

Once he was close enough, he didn't shoot. Instead, he threw the gun across the floor as the rhino rushed at him.

Right into Asher's hands.

Asher leveled it right at the rhino's head-

and shot.

* * *

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> At 10000 words in total!  
> And 234 hits! So awesome to have you guys!


	10. Above all measures

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Redd is forced to deal with the consequences of his actions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm also might be updating some of the older chapters, maybe redoing dialogue and other grammer stuff. If there's any issues you notice, write it down in the comments below!

 

 

* * *

**March 25, 2018**

**Dawnfall Club**

* * *

 

Reynard was still conflicting over his brother's actions when the door of the rooftop burst open. Fenrir barely had time to level his pistol towards it, before being thrown back by a raging charge. Redd and Fenrir hit the wall, with the fox disarming the wolf with amazing timing, then forcing him down on the ground.

"Told you to stay out of this." He aimed the gun at the wolf's head, before uncocking it and tossing it off the roof.

Fenrir grunted, looking around at the attackers. Off to the side was a wolf, dressed in tactical gear with a grin on his face that seemed  _unnatural._ He was staring at Fenrir with a look that suggested violence. Lots of violence.

"You fucking prick.." Fenrir could see that Redd had handcuffs, probably from one of the guards, and was in the process of handcuffing the wolf to the nearby railing. 

Reynard was still facing the duo, eyes wary. "Redd... don't hurt him too badly. He- he didn't hurt me."

The older fox scoffed. "His fault he decided to get into this situation. His friends can deal with this when they get up here. Which will be a while."

Fenrir saw the crazy wolf was now approaching him, only to be stopped by Redd.

"Enough. You know he's not to be killed, Kells. He's Freelancer." Kells took that not to lightly, growling at the fox before going back to his previous place.

Reynard approached the two, then waited before he spoke.

"Was what he said true? About the person you killed?"

Redd shrugged. "Don't know what you mean."

Fenrir lifted his head up, looking at the two foxes. "He means the CIA agent whose guts you took out. The guy that started all this."

Redd sighed, leaning against the wall. "Damnit. That... you weren't supposed to know that."

Reynard had his arms crossed, angry at Redd. "Why? I thought you always told me to kill those that deserve it. That I shouldn't be involved like you are. Why do this?"

Redd had started to speak again, before being cut off. "Redd?"

The foxes turned, seeing Kells with a surprising genuine grin expression on his face. Not good for them.

"What?"

The wolf grinned. "I just got word from command. Phase 2 has begun. And you know what that means."

Reynard thought for a second, before realizing what Kells meant. 

"Oh fuck."

Freelancer was now on the table. And Fenrir was right there.

Kells had free reign now.

* * *

 

The words sent Reynard immediately scrambling in front of Fenrir, who was still handcuffed to the railing. "He's not a threat!"

But Kells didn't care. He pushed Reynard aside with a forceful push, getting him out of the way as he made his way to Fenrir.

Kells unsheathed his claws, grinning as his eyes widened. "You've been on us way too long. Time for you to really face fear." Before the wolf could reach him, Redd had grabbed the wolf by the shoulder, swinging him around to face him. 

"Enough! We have to go before the shit hits the fan, Kells! Killing him will achieve nothing for any of us!" Redd faced the wolf down, the two staring at each other with fury.

In the meantime, Reynard had grabbed the handcuff key, tossing it to Fenrir. "Run!" Taking the chance given to him, he uncuffed himself before rushing to the door. Kells attempted to charge him but was pushed down by Redd. 

Kells dodged the next blows given by Redd, before wrestling him into a stranglehold. "You really want to protect him? So you can have some sense of morality? Face your facts, Redd! All of this does nothing to what you've done to accomplish your mission!"

Although the formula inside them did make them stronger, there were still many ways to disable a man that can regenerate. One of the most common methods was to stop their breathing. While they wouldn't die, it would leave them vulnerable, even to a complete decapitation. 

Redd knew Kells was trying to do that. It would leave him unable to do anything while Kells went after the Freelancer agents still in the building. He had to do something. 

Before he could do anything, Kells had been forced off, being taken off by Reynard as he attempted to stop the fighting.

As Redd tried to get back up, Kells had gripped Reynard throat in his paws. He glared at the fox with hatred.

"Runt. Always wanted to see you die like this. You were never one of us." Kells kept that same smile on his face as he choked the life out of Reynard. Reynard was unable to do anything, his arms weakly trying to pry off Kells's paws.

In a rage, Redd tackled Kells, putting him in a similar chokehold to the one he was in before. But this time, with a different intention.

"You have REALLY PISSED ME OFF!" With a simple twist, he used his arms to snap Kells's neck, leaving him nearly lifeless as he fell to the ground.

He wasn't dead though. He would regenerate in time. But it was not time they had. 

Redd went over to Reynard to get ready to run but then noticed the fox was standing still. Now he noticed red dots all over both of them.

They were too late.

The cavalry had arrived.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kells is a real psychopath, right?  
> Don't worry, there will be more on him soon, along with the others.  
> This was mainly a Redd chapter, just a short one.  
> Also, Reynard isn't entirely trusting of Redd now. He doesn't trust Fenrir that much too.


	11. Two sides to a War

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Redd is captured. But that doesn't mean everything is over yet. A mysterious officer comes in, offering something that may turn the tide.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next chapter might not be for a while, so here's one for more plotish stuff.  
> Though by the end of this, I hope to  
> \- Have Rocket and Asher's relationship realized  
> \- Tie in Zootopia majorly  
> \- Get everything all together  
> \- And make sure all my writing makes sense  
> This might take a while!  
> Anyway, enjoy this chapter!

* * *

 

**March 26, 2018**

**FDC (Freelancer Detention Center)**

* * *

 

Redd could've easily escaped. Running wasn't the most cowardly thing for most Collaboration agents, but he knew Reynard would not be able to keep up.

And he would never leave Reynard.

Now, they were both at Freelancer's mercy. Redd and Reynard in separate cells, awaiting punishment. He wished he had told Reynard to just run or had just let Kells kill that wolf.

But some deep part of Redd's heart not taken by the Collaboration's doings still felt it was wrong to just let that mammal die, even though he had killed thousands before just like him.

What was wrong with him? Was this finally having all his sins catch up to him?

Before he could think on it more, the door opened, revealing a slim figure in a trenchcoat, with some sort of reflective mask on his face. He was a lot taller than Redd. Even with his enhanced body, Redd was at least 2 feet above the fox.

"Redd Ishi." The figure spoke, the door closing behind them.

"With what you've done, you deserve the death penalty. And we both know you deserve worse." The figure said ominously. 

Redd would have laughed, but the aura the figure brought with him kept him silent as the figure sat down.

"But letting you die would accomplish part of what you wanted all along. So, I'm here to change that."

The figure nodded to the camera on the wall. The LED on the front shut off, and the body tipped down.

"What happens in this room will never come out of it. Understand?"

The fox nodded as the figure took off the mask.

"Oh."

* * *

 

"You... have no fur. Or some at least."

With the mask off, the officer now had a face. Brown eyes, with the brownish "fur" on the top of his head. He looked back at Redd.

"Let's get to the facts. Your records are bare. Obviously, your parents were immigrants from Terra 2, possibly coming over when the mass exodus from your world happened, right?" 

Redd didn't say anything.

"Guessing that they didn't come here to get away from the war on their world. They came here to infiltrate the mammal population, then attack at the right moment. You were just a soldier to them. They gave you that "Infinity" formula at 16, then forced you out into the real world to see if you could make it. Either kill those who deserved or those who didn't. I've seen it all the time."

Redd was still silent.

"But you found something out there. Something you attached yourself to. Don't need to guess who that might be, do I?"

The figure continued as Redd remained neutral.

"You bring him back, feeling satisfied. He grows up. But the mammals upstairs don't like it. Not at all. You see him as a family, they see him as something that wouldn't last. So you hide the bad parts of your job. Try to raise him right, and show the big guys upstairs he's useful. But now everything has unraveled. After this, they will come for you. And they will destroy everything you love."

Now Redd stared back at the officer, his expression of anger apparent on his face.

"What the hell do you want?"

The officer smirked.

"It's simple." The officer said.

"Help us end this war before it starts."

* * *

 

The masked officer exited, making his way out into the hallway until he reached one of the empty rooms. Once inside, he locked the door, then entered a set of numbers into his wrist armor.

Suddenly, a doorway of light appeared. The circular and bright yellow doorway sparked as the officer entered, right before closing in a instant.

He was finally home.

The Hub was crowded as he made his way to the commander's office. Various millitary members from all around the world flooded in as he made his way upstairs. He was in the main hallway when she 

"Connor!" 

He turned towards the voice, smiling as he saw the person who spoke. It was a female officer, dressed in a blue recon fatigues. She had dark hair and blue eyes. Her name tag on her vest said "Wells".

"I'm back." He said as he went in for a hug. The two began to walk to the commander's office.

Wells laughed. "Can't believe you like staying there. Most of the guys complain about the food variety down there."

He smirked. "Honestly, they always over exaggerate about that. Freelancer has good stuff. Sometimes."

She let Connor enter the commander's room alone, while she dealt with other stuff related to Connor's trip.

Commander Blitz sat at his desk, waiting for Connor's report. The man was dark skinned, bald with a serious but relaxed look on his face.

"Glad to see your trip went well."

Connor scoffed. "Mostly for me. Freelancer is shitting their pants right now."

Blitz sighed. "Going to guess it's-"

"The Collaboration." Connor said.

Blitz scowled. "You damn Telepaths, never letting me get to the point." Blitz grumbled as he moved some documents on his desk and pulled out a large file.

"If they are back, we need to come up with a game plan. In case Terra 2 is not the only battleground." Connor said, staring at the commander.

Blitz looked back at him. "I agree. But you know the council will veto anything related to working together. You know they don't want any chance for all of this to leak to the public. Damn paranoid pricks."

Connor nodded. The commander was right. The general public on both Earth and Terra 2 have no knowledge of the possibility of each other and the possible war starting to erupt. They had gotten lucky that most of the destruction of Bridges from Terra 2 were blamed on weapons testing. If Terra 1 actually went for cities...

..the destruction would not stop there.

"Connor?"

Connor sighed. "Yes, sir?"

The commander handed Connor the file. "This is everything we know about so far on the home-grown terrorist groups in Terra. The Collaboration may be going for one in particular."

Blitz directed Connor to the third page in the file, a picture of a wolf with dark brown fur, staring intently at the camera.

Blitz spoke. "This is Pastor Emil Barkheart. Well, ex-pastor. He was taken down after some of his rants were directed towards prey animals. Violence and what not. He went under the radar until now."

He pointed to another file, one that saw Barkheart next to another wolf. The two were overlooking various crates of weaponry.

"This picture was taken 2 months ago. The wolf next to Bakrheart is Darius Kells, a mammal who a day ago we had nothing on. That team in Freelancer just got us the key to finding out what this might all mean."

Connor nodded as Blitz continued. 

"Kells's body was incinerated last night. We didn't want to take any chances with him. Redd has more than enough information. But we now know where the weapons are going."

Connor looked over the map of the Terra world, before coming upon the mark on the map. He sighed.

"This is going to be a shitshow, isn't it?"

Blitz nodded. "The one place in the United States where guns are outlawed."

"Zootopia."

* * *

Connor waited outside the Bridge room, tinkering with his Bridge device. The device was compact, but only had enough energy to teleport twice, one to get where you wanted and one to get back.

He walked inside, quietly hooked up his device to the Bridge, and refilled it.

He was glad the mammals had these rechargers too. It would have been inconvenient to get lost over there.

Finally, the device was charged, letting him open the portal back to Terra 2.

With a wave of his hand, the same yellow doorway appeared again, letting him pass through into Terra 2.

Connor sighed. "So find a crazy cult, stop them from destroying a city, and end a war with another dimension."

"This is so above my pay-grade."

* * *

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -Connor is based off Byran Dechart, https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/695911909200154624/rY3ioKHH_400x400.jpg  
> He's also telepathic, which means he can read memories and emotions. This makes him a very great interrogator. It's also how he reads Redd's mind, which makes it easy to get Redd onto his side. For the time being...  
> -Blitz is more like a Nick Fury, only without the eyepatch.  
> Terra-1 : Zootopia but bad  
> Terra-2: Regular Zootopia  
> Terra-3:Human Earth


	12. Update on future chapters

Hey guys! I'm glad to see that I'm now at 274 hits and rising! So glad that people are reading.

But the next chapter may be delayed for a while. I have a new online class for speech that might take up most of my time.

But I wanted to thank you guys! My writing was not so good before with my last works, and seeing that people are actually reading my writing is such a good motivator.

But before I end this, is there any questions or comments you guys want me to answer? Any character developments that seemed not so good or not well written?

I really want to know where I should improve and what to focus on.

Thank you Zootopia community!


	13. Further Questioning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rocket confronts his feelings.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a very Rocket based chapter, and will reveal more on how his character fits into the world, and what he faces. While this may seem like all sunshine and roses, not everything may be...

* * *

Going to lead this chapter with some cool ass art from Mr.Loser!

http://mr-loserr.tumblr.com/post/173309345648/for-the-raffle-second-place-winner

Anyway, to the story!

* * *

**March 26, 2018**

**Freelancer HQ, Room 189**

* * *

 

"So, there's some secret war between worlds, where your planet and our's are fighting against another one that has guerrilla super soldiers ready to take us out from inside, along with teleportation and all this other shit. Also, you are something called a human? And you can read minds?"

"Yes. You summarized it pretty nicely."

Rocket shifted back in the chair, uncomfortably big as he looked back at Connor.

"This sounds like a fucking complex sci-fi airport novel."

The human nodded. "I've had some recruits say that. Along with more verbose vocabulary than most."

The raccoon had to agree. Just an hour ago, he hadn't known any of this. And now he was in the thick of it. Other Worlds? Fucking invincible super soldiers? Aliens with no hair and powers? Not many mammals would believe it. But Rocket had seen enough conspiracy and sci-fi films to know that at least something was happening behind the scenes.

"Any questions?" The human looked at the raccoon as he moved some of the files.

Rocket pointed at him. "So, you read minds?"

"Yes. But don't worry, I'm not some all-knowing mind reader. I need eye contact, and around the distance of this table. Any more and I only see glimpses."

The raccoon nodded. "And you can see everything?"

The human scoffed. "It's more reading thoughts than pure mind peeking. I tend to avoid peering into private memories unless I'm forced to. Redd was one of those."

Rocket did have to say seeing Redd in jail made him feel all good inside. The prick deserved it, and a whole lot more. Asher had told him before he met with Connor that Redd blew open most of what he knew on the Chicago killings after Connor's "interrogation". The raccoon smiled.

"So what now? Get my papers and get out of here?"

Connor sighed. "Well, Rocket. Looks like you're a Freelancer now. Congratulations."

* * *

 "Rocket." Asher was waiting by the door.

Rocket turned to him as he made his way out of the room, feeling satisfied with himself. "Hey, Ash."

The coyote smiled as he spoke. "Well? Your thoughts?"

Rocket shrugged. "If I had to be honest... didn't expect most of it."

The two mammals continued down the hallway. Asher looked at Rocket curiously. "What does that mean?"

Rocket smirked. "I had a few people online saying stuff about a war being hidden from the public. The key difference they thought the enemy was the sheep trying to overthrow the government. Kind of a big difference to me." 

Asher cringed. "That is a big difference. And it sounds kind of speciest."

Rocket looked offended. "I didn't believe that crap anyway." He put his arms together in a huff.

"Exactly." Asher said. "Don't worry about it."

Even though Rocket seemed happy to be out of there, he still looked a tad bit depressed as they finally made it to Rocket's room. They entered inside. It was barebones, solid gray walls and a bare bed.

Rocket looked back at Asher. "I wanted to say- nevermind."

Asher looked curiously. "What?"

"It's... about yesterday. The whole thing with the Rhino and you blowing its head off." Rocket said. He sat down, flopping down onto the bed.

Asher grinned. "You're worrying about that thing? You saved my life, Rocket." The coyote sounded genuine as he spoke. "You don't have to worry about that."

The raccoon blushed a little. "I know, it's just... it reminded me of some really shitty memories. Back before I met you."

Asher had only known Rocket for around 2 years when he went undercover into the various crime gangs of Chicago. Rocket was a sort of arms dealer back then, making homemade weapons and selling them to the highest bidder. Instead of just putting him behind bars, Asher gave Rocket a second chance and showed him life wasn't all crime. It did have consequences though. Rocket was on a lot of criminal hit lists, meaning his life of near infinite money had to go. And all the "friends" Rocket thought he had were against him. It sobered him up. Now Asher was the only one that showed him true compassion, showed that he really cared. 

"I'm guessing it was pretty bad, right?" Asher sat down next to Rocket on the bed.

Rocket began to speak. "I was young, maybe 8 or 9? Dad already left, so my Mom was working all day. So it was just me and Ranger being together for most of the days back then."

Rocket never really talked about his family with Asher. The coyote knew that his father was a deadbeat, and his mother had died in '95, right when Rocket was 12. He had an older brother, Ranger, though Asher knew less about him than the other members of the family. He had disappeared soon after the mother's death, so Rocket was alone for most of his life. Asher would have never wished that on his worst enemy.

He spoke softer, like a whisper. "We were outside, and this huge gangbanger prick comes out, some tiger or something. He gets angry at Ranger, but I come in. And-" He cringed as he thought back to that moment.

"He grabbed me. Started- choking me out. I-I couldn't do anything. I was weak, and Ranger couldn't get me free. It was useless."

Asher put his paw on Rocket's back as he sniffled. "It's alright..."

Rocket sighed. "Before I blacked out, he let go. Ranger had some shitty knife, he slashed at the arms. The tiger let go, and I could breathe again. By the time I got up, Ranger had scared him off. I-I was so scared. But when I saw that happening to you..." Rocket could barely finish his last sentence.

Asher looked at him with care. "You didn't want to be too late. You didn't want to lose me like everyone else." 

Rocket nodded with tears in his eyes. Asher grabbed in him in a heartfelt hug, breaking the raccoon out of his fear.

Asher stroked his paw along Rocket's face. "I promise, you won't have to feel that fear again. We can work through this, together."

"Right." Rocket sighed. His voice stuttered a bit. "It's just... I think I..." Rocket could barely think before he went into action.

The raccoon went forward, and let his muzzle meet Asher's in a kiss. It was hastily done, Rocket's emotions were haywire and he felt so much love. Love he had never really had before. 

 He broke away quickly, surprising the coyote. Rocket looked embarrassed. They both didn't speak.

"That was... unexpected." Asher scratched the back of his neck. "But..."

Rocket attempted to say something but was interrupted by Asher kissing back, not forcibly, but gently. It was long before Asher pulled back.

The coyote grinned. "Guess I'm the better kisser." 

Rocket blushed more. "Sorry. I didn't mean-" He was interrupted from Asher cupping his head in his paws.

 "Don't say that. I don't want to ever have to hear you apologize for that, got it?" Asher's eyes looked down on Rocket with care. "Let's... go slow with this, alright? I... don't want to rush."

The raccoon nodded, letting Asher get up off the bed. He still seemed hesitant as he spoke. "What are we going to do now? With all of... this?" Asher didn't know if he meant about the emotions he felt or what was going to happen soon.

Asher started to leave the room. "As I said, don't worry about it." He looked back at the bare room. "And if this doesn't work out... you've always got my room." He winked for good measure.

Rocket blushed even harder than before. I-I'm fine. I'll have your guys bring over my old stuff from the trailer. But Asher..." He looked at the coyote with genuine care. "Thank you."

Asher smiled. "Always."

* * *

 

Asher looked over the file, making sure everything was filled out.

Rocket Raccoon. It was a odd name to some, but Asher didn't care about his name. To him, the raccoon was someone he cared about, that he didn't realize he loved until Rocket literally kissed him on the muzzle.

He groaned. "Sam is going to gloat this over me."

He finished the file off, before submitting it to Command. 

_Name: Rocky "Rocket" Raccoon._

_Species: Procyon lotor_

_Age: 35_

_Codename: BANDIT_

Asher grinned. "Welcome to Freelancer, Rocky."

* * *

 

Edit: had to add this new piece done recently by Tytoz!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And there we go! Rocket and Asher finally confront the emotions with each other, and Rocket is now offically part of Freelancer!


	14. Si vis pacem, para bellum

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In the dark of night, new evils are revealed, and the world turns unaffected.

* * *

**March 27, 2018**

**Location Unknown**

* * *

 

It was night as a hoodied figure entered the building. Furniture and trash were scattered everywhere as they moved through the room. Approaching a door, the figure pressed their paw to it, allowing the wall to move away. It opened into a large elevator, taking the figure down several floors, before opening to the guns of two wolf guards.

"Sto-" The first wolf had barely any time to say anything before he was disarmed by the figure. Grabbing the gun, he ripped out the magazine, throwing it at the second wolf, dazing him. He grabbed the wolf in a chokehold, grabbing the holstered pistol and aiming it at the other guard. 

"What an unexpected welcome." The figure threw his hood off, revealing a familiar mammal that had the guard nearly crap himself in fear.

"Mr.Kells?"

* * *

 

"I like what you've done to the place. Glad to see security has some ability to fight." Kells sighed. The meetings with his superiors were always to figuring out information too late. Like not dealing with Redd. He should have just killed the two of them and been done with it. But they always need good assets of their missions. And now he was in the hands of Freelancer.

White Lion grimaced. "Well, too bad you like it. We are moving everything out. The next phase is coming, and Barkheart needs soldiers. I trust that Redd was dealt with?"

Kells looked at the lion with annoyance. "Didn't have time to stroll around in an enemy base. Was hard enough forging documents involving my death, and getting a similar dead body. Besides, he knows nothing of your true plans." Most of this was said with a hint of fear as the lion stared him down.

"Then, all they have is an old soldier with his tales of woe, and a weak boy who was lied to. Fair enough. They present no threat now." 

Kells inwardly sighed a sigh of relief. If he had been tasked to kill them and failed...

He would have wished for death.

White Lion continued. "Now that you are back, you will travel to Zootopia in a few days, and establish contact with Barkheart. We need to have everything in order before we set everything in motion. You are dismissed."

Kells saluted, before stepping out of the conference room. He had some unfinished work to deal with. 

* * *

 _Si vis Pacem, para bellum_. It was his favorite latin phrase. "If you want peace, prepare for war." That was the motto of his people. To achieve the ultimate peace, war must destroy what threatens it. He smirked. The perfect phrase for his people.

"Mr.Kells, sir?" Someone spoke, breaking Kells out of his thoughts.

The wolf turned to the voice, seeing nothing, then he looked down. "Oh."

The rabbit scientist had no expression as he handed the file to the wolf.

"Oswald wanted you to help with Experiment 86p. It's experiencing quantum entanglement again, and is reacting badly."

The wolf sighed. "Of course."

The two mammals headed down the corridor, reaching a room with an orange light coming out beneath it. Entering the room, it was a simple one-way mirror set-up. Kells could see on the other side, a figure moving at speeds unnatural, "ghosts" of themselves moving around them, like after effects of their actions. 

Grimacing, the wolf looked over the burned electronic equipment that was scattered around the room. "What the hell did you geeks do?"

The rabbit looked over at the figure. "It happened when we attached the ouroborus. It was supposed to regulate the fragmentation, but..."

Kells looked at 86p. It was obvious they were having some sort of breakdown of some sort.

"Let me guess, you want me in there because I can survive a direct hit if he goes mental, right?" Kells didn't have to look back at the rabbit to know he was right. 

"You just need to take off the device. Without injuring it."

Gripping the door handle, he threw it open, then walked towards the figure. He kept himself at a moderate pace as he approached.

Once closer to the figure, he saw that the light was getting dimmer as he got closer. The figure was wearing a white suit, electronics all over. There was a circular object in the middle of the chest, spitting out a circle of light. As he was getting closer, it felt like his fur and skin were burning alive. He grabbed the device, and with one pull, took it off 86p.

Instantly, the room dimmed and the figure fell to the ground. 86p started coughing and tried to take the helmet off. Kells began to leave the room while various scientists entered.

The rabbit looked at Kells. "Thank you." 

He said nothing as he exited the room.

* * *

 

"86p. Please, you will need-"

"NO." The suited mammal looked at the scientist with a look that one would call hatred if anyone could see their face.

"The device just needs some adjustments. You will-"

"No. Please." The last sentence was spoken like a whisper. 

The rabbit looked pained. "It won't hurt like last time. I promise."

86p could hear one of the scientists, a warthog, in the back speaking in a whisper. "Why are we not just forcing this? We need him to be ready."

One of the other scientists looked at the warthog with an annoyed face. "We've tried that. Didn't work well for the dead ones. We keep him happy, we stay alive."

86p looked down at his feet, then spoke.

"Tomorrow." 

The rabbit grinned. "I promise you, this will get better, 86p." Using his happiness to try and fake his helpfulness. Just like all the rest.

The doctors left, leaving 86p alone. He was able to reach behind his helmet, allowing his mask to come off.

It revealed a scared raccoon, both of his eyes were orange. He put his paw into the side of his suit as he fished out something from one of his pockets. 

He grabbed it, revealing an old, marked up photograph, showing two raccoons smiling at the camera. He smiled, before grimacing as the entanglement came back. It always happened when he felt something like this.

On the back of the photo was was a single message.

"Rocky and Ranger, brothers forever!"

Tears came out of his eyes as he looked down at the photo.

"I'm sorry Rocky. I'm sorry."

* * *

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And there we have it! Kells is some how alive (the bastard), and Rocket's Brother is also alive, though he has powers?  
> I based his powers off Ghost's from the Ant-man and Wasp movie. The reason why he got these powers is similar to how Ghost got them in the movie (spoilers) in a accident involving science shit(end spoilers), but he will for sure make more appearances in later chapters.


	15. The Elephant in the Room

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Asher can't really hide his relationship well...

* * *

 

**March 28th**

**Freelancer HQ**

* * *

 

It was 7:30 A.M. The entire base was quiet as Asher got up out of his bed.

Asher sighed. He didn't like having to wake up this early. But it had it's perks. He looked over at the still sleeping form of Rocket, softly snoring. He smiled as he began to get dressed.

Walking over to Rocket, he knelt and gently pushed. "Time to get up."

Expectantly, Rocket grumbled, not getting up until 10 minutes after Asher had woken him up. He looked at the coyote, annoyed. 

"Do you have to get up this early every day?" The raccoon was still out of it, only wearing a simple pair of underwear.

"It's easier for me to get stuff done without my sister harping over me. Besides, no large line of Coffee at this hour..." Asher could see Rocket's ears perk up at that. 

The two exited Asher's room silently, making their way down to the Cafeteria. Not many mammals were up at this hour, and most of them would be in a different section of the HQ, leaving Rocket and Asher alone to themselves.

* * *

 

Rocket looked around the cafeteria. "So, no one else is here, right?" The two had finished their drinks pretty quickly, and now sat together at one of the many booths in the room. 

Asher smirked. "Not for a hour or two. But I can see where you're going with that."

Rocket grinned back, then the two went at it. Well, as much as they could on a cold metal bench.

Rocket wasn't one for waiting as he tried to take everything off of Asher. His paws were against Asher's chest as the two kissed passionately. He had already gotten his shirt off, and was attempting to get to his pants.

Then a loud cough broke the silence, causing Rocket to yelp and fall off. The two looked to the sound, and saw what was the worst mammal possible to walk in at that time.

Asher waved with his arm weakly. "Um...Hi Sam."

* * *

The younger coyote looked at Asher, annoyed. "Really? Right in front of my coffee?"

Rocket attempted to speak, but was stopped when Sam stared him down. "Shut it."

Asher stood up, and helped Rocket up. "Y-you never wake up at this hour." 

Sam sighed. "Command wanted some shit done before we move operations to Zootopia. Figured if I got up early enough, no one would be here, and I could work in peace."

Rocket rubbed the back of his head. "You still can, we can just-"

"I will. But not before I finish questioning you." The coyote looked down at Rocket with glaring eyes. 

"So, how long has this been going on?"

Asher cringed. "2 days. We... kind of figured it out when I brought Rocket back to his room. Personal stuff."

Sam kept her pissed look at the two mammals. "And you've already upgraded to fucking around the base?"

Now Rocket stood up while staring back at Sam. "If you want to blame anyone, I'm the one who started that!"

Sam looked quizzically at Rocket. "Started? This wasn't the first time?" 

Asher could see Rocket had gone pale. "Um..."

Sam sighed. "Anyway, I'm done. Go jerk him off in the corner, I'll take my coffee and go."

Cringing, Asher could barely say anything before she had rushed out. He leaned on a nearby table, paws to his head, groaning in frustration. 

Rocket looked down at his feet. He felt totally embarrassed. "I fucked up, didn't I?" 

In a instant, Asher made his way over and hugged it. "It's our fuck-up. Besides, my sister would have found out somehow." Asher sighed. "Wish it wasn't like this."

* * *

 

It was now 10:00, and the full team was required to meet in the operations room. Asher held his paw with Rocket's as the two made their way down.

"So, you want to talk about it?" Rocket looked at Asher.

Asher sighed. "There's not much to say. To be honest, I would be pissed at not know exactly what my sibling was doing, if I was her. She doesn't see anything wrong with, it's just... how she figured it out." 

Rocket grimaced. "Well, thinking about it now, that was a pretty stupid thing to do. In a public place. But we wouldn't be saying that if we didn't get caught."

Asher blushed. "I... fair enough. But it is not at all like the movies." He rubbed his back. "It is way too cold in real life."

Rocket laughed at his comment. "Well, next time I'll find us a warmer place, just for you."

Asher smirked back as the two entered the operations room.

It was a massive room, able to fit hundreds of mammals, and then some. But it was startlingly empty, except for Fenrir, sitting by his lonesome. Asher and Rocket took their seats next to where the team was supposed to sit. 

"Hey, Fen." Asher waved his paw at the wolf, who was staring down at his phone. Hearing Asher, he looked back at the two mammals.

Fenrir smiled. "Glad to see you finally arrived. Sam's not back yet, but..." The wolf scratched the back of his head.

Asher grumbled. "Guessing she told you about me and Rocket." He kept Rocket's paw in his as he looked at the wolf.

Fenrir shrugged. "Don't care. She's probably just pissed you ruined her coffee time." He leaned back in the chair, bringing his attention back to the phone.

Asher had to go to the bathroom before the call started, leaving Rocket waiting alone.

Sam entered the room, sitting down next to Fenrir. She too was looking over her phone, before looking back at Asher. Rocket looked at her with a hint of fear.

"Don't piss your pants. I'm not going to kick your ass for dating my brother." The female coyote looked at Rocket. "Just want to know one thing."

Rocket didn't betray any emotion on his face. "And what's that?"

"When the time comes, will you protect him over everything?"

Rocket froze a bit, looking down at his feet before answering.

"Always."

The two stared off, until Sam relented, leaning back in her seat. She smiled. "Then, you're good in my book. Thanks."

Rocket sighed. Crisis averted. Unless she snuck a grenade in his bag or something. But she seemed genuinely happy that Rocket said he would protect Asher over everything. Guess that's her standard for judging 

Rocket looked back at Asher, who had just gotten back. "Guess I fixed everything with your sister." 

Asher looked to see his sister was busy on her phone. He looked annoyed. "Did she threaten you? Disembowelment or some other vague threat?"

Rocket grimaced. "Um... no. She just asked if I would protect. I said always. And now she's fine, I guess. Unless she does some freaky shit later."

Asher sat down with a sigh. "She's just... over-protective. If that's all she wanted, then that's good." 

Rocket grinned. "She do this to all your boyfriends?"

The coyote looked coy as he took in Rockets comment. "You're... actually the first mammal I've been with."

Rocket looked at him in surprise. "Wait, really? Then that means last night was..." He trailed off as Asher looked away from the raccoon. Rocket sighed. "I've... been a bit different. Other mammals, but it's... it's never been like you. Like how you are."

Asher looked back at Rocket. "Really?" He gripped Rocket's paw in his. 

Rocket grinned. "Of course. I'm not going to leave you for anything. Top of my heart."

"It actually Bottom of your heart, not top." Asher laughed quietly. Rocket rolled his eyes.

"Whatever it is, We'll be there for each other. Promise?"

"Promise."

* * *

 

 A screen was in the middle of the room, displaying the logo of Freelancer. Then, it dissolved to the video feed of a gray wolf. The grizzled wolf looked at the camera, his grey fur showing his age.

"Welcome, everyone. I am Takashi Oda, the original founder of Freelancer. A few days ago, we finally realized that a enemy we thought we destroyed 35 years ago are still alive. And they are ready to attack."

The screen changed to a picture of several mammals, huddled together similar to photos from the army, some which were now senior members of staff all around Freelancer. "In the year 1983, we found out that there were other worlds. We used a device called the Bridge to travel to these worlds. Some worlds became our allies.." 

The screen switched to a picture similar to the last one, but with both humans and mammals.

"But we also found enemies."

The screen then switched to what seemed to be a battlefield, bodies of mammals laid left and right. Some of the mammals were wearing a white-plated armor, and had larger guns.

"Fortunately, the Collaboration never attacked in full force. They came in waves, and could take a bullet  to the head. They used a serum that affected their body in such a way that they could cheat death."

It cut to a video of mammals under attack from a armored mammal. He seemed to be invincible until he jerked back, having been shot in the head.

The screen changed to a map of the known world, with highlights on certain areas of the United States and the Old Continent. The wolf continued. "They were testing us the whole time. Making sure we were ready. And now we know their target."

The screen cut to a shot of a city. Zootopia. "We have no idea what they plan to do. They have no way of coming back to this world. We need to figure out the truth. And it starts with this mammal."

It changed to a picture of a disgruntled wolf, looking at the camera with hatred. "This is Emil Barkheart. He is suspect number one, and he has a grudge against the city. We need you to find out what he knows, and how to stop whatever The Collaboration is trying to do. May the gods be with you."

The screen went black, leaving the team with more questions than answers.

* * *

 

Reynard sat down in his cell and sighed. At least he had his books they had given him. He loved books related to science. Knowing how something works made him look at things differently. Like the situation with Redd.

It was Redd who had told him everything after they got captured. How he was adopted. How his brother had murdered hundreds behind his back for a goal that was never reachable. There was never going to be a way home for him. Ever.

But the true monster was the one that turned Redd into one.

The Collaboration. He hated them with a passion. He wanted them to die for what they had done for all these years.

The fox went back to his book, before being interrupted by a knock on his cage door. "You've got a visitor."

Reynard looked at the guard quizzically. Who would actually care he was stuck here? Redd was still in his cell, electric collar on his neck. "Who is it?"

The door opened, revealing a tall man, with a mask on his face. He looked down at Reynard.

"You want out of this cell? Let's talk about... revenge."

Reynard grinned. Exactly what he was thinking.


	16. Heading into Zootopia

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The team makes their way to Zootopia, plus one new member.

* * *

  **March 30, 2018**

**Streamliner Train 8465**

* * *

 Zootopia was one of the few major cities that used railways that connected across the entire United States. From Chicago, it was 12 hours to the city.

Freelancer had a few ties to one of the major train companies, so it was easy to get one for the team's trip over. The Streamliner 8465 was made to transport a large amount of mammals. It seems gigantic to just 5 mammals.

The team of 4, plus one recently released fox, entered the train. It was spacious, different rooms in every car of the train. Reynard looked around at his newfound freedom. Well, partial freedom. He itched at the small collar on his neck. It was supposed to theoretically stop him from trying to separate from the group, shocking him if he went too far from Fenrir. He guessed that Freelancer picked him because Fenrir was the only member he really was in contact with before he was captured. So he followed the only member he really knew, Fenrir.

He was the only one that he really talked to on the way to the train. The rest of the team either ignored him or were busy with other things. It was perfectly understandable, in his eyes. He was with Redd, the fox who had gotten them into this mess. And in a way, they did see him as part of that. But he knew he had to at least show that he wasn't going to desert at the drop of a hat. He wanted revenge, plain and simple.

Soon after they had gotten on, the train began moving. Time was of the essence, of course.

The team found one of the comfy rooms, couches, and shelves with books. This was meant to be a room where one could find quiet and read a book. Fenrir flopped down onto a nearby couch, sighing in relief as he relaxed on the red cloth couch. "This whole train must have cost a fortune." Reynard had to smirk at the wolf's relaxed form.

Sam grabbed one of the books off a shelf. "I'll be in my bunk." She went off further into the train. Reynard sat down on one of opposite couches and leaned back. He had to admit, this was a good couch. Nice and comfy.

 Rocket had been messing around with some materials in a bag he had brought. "Are we the only mammals on this thing?"

Fenrir nodded. "Apparently it's automated. It's on a one-way rail so no other trains go through this way. We're the only ones on here." 

Rocket fished out some sort of device, wires hanging of it. "Well, that's good." 

Asher groaned. "Please don't tell me that's a bomb of some sort."

Rocket looked back at the coyote. "It's actually an Electro-magnetic pulse charge. In case we encounter baddies with superior hardware."

The coyote looked over the rest of Rockets stuff. "And are you sure it won't damage this train?"

Rocket scoffed. "Relax, I'll put it in a box." He continued stitching together wires into the charge.

Asher sighed. "How can a box stop a EMP?"

Rocket shrugged. "I- Fair enough. But this thing will only go off when I send a signal to it. So, I'm just gonna keep it in the box for safekeeping."

Asher smiled. "That sounds good."

The two mammals left, possibly to look for their rooms. Reynard sighed. "So, guess I'm stuck with you for a bunk. Don't mind really."

Fenrir looked back at the fox with a hint of sadness. "I... I am sorry about the collar. I petitioned for just a tracker, but... they still considered you dangerous. If it was up to me, just a tracker would be enough."

Reynard smirked. "Wow, the first positive thing anyone has said to me this entire trip. Thanks for that."

Fenrir cringed. "The others are still sore about Redd. I'll... try and say something. I promise that nothing bad will happen to you, got it?" Fenrir got up off the couch and went to Reynard. The wolf extended his paw towards the fox. The fox took the paw and shook it. 

"Well, let's find our room, shall we?" 

* * *

 

The two mammals found it near the back of the train. Thankfully for both of them, there were two beds, both being a perfect size for a bigger mammal. There was also a bathroom, with a shower and toilet. A TV was on the wall opposite of the beds. A window

Reynard looked around the room and whistled. "Well, I've got to agree with you, this thing must have cost a fortune." He grinned as he saw the countryside speeding by through the window.

 Fenrir grabbed the nearby remote, turning on the TV. He scrolled through the channels, not finding anything of interest.

"News, news... oh wait there's a marathon of those old noir films!" He grinned as a black and white film starting playing, showing two officers coming upon a bloody crime scene.

Reynard looked at the screen. "You like those old things?" 

Fenrir smiled. "My foster parents had a huge set of these, and I watched them all the time when I was little. It made me always want to be a cop, and I was... until..." He looked saddened for a moment before perking up as the scene changed. "This one's pretty good! And we're right at the start!"

Reynard sat on the opposite bed, and watched the Noir films for a few hours. To Reynard's surprise, they were actually pretty neat, despite the age and the acting. It was getting close to the end of the marathon before Reynard looked back over at Fenrir.

"Hey, Fen?"

The wolf looked away from the screen. "What is it?"

"I... I need to take a shower and the collar..." Reynard scratched the metal collar on his neck, feeling like it weighed a thousand pounds on his neck.

Fenrir leaped up, then looked through his bag, before bringing out a metallic card. He went over to Reynard and inserted it into a slot in the collar. Instantly, the collar detached, and fell off Reynard's neck. "Alright, but... be quick. It's got like a 30-minute countdown before I have to put it back on." He grimaced at the collar. "If it was my way, I would just throw the damn thing out the window."

In a surprising agile leap, Reynard hugged Fenrir, before running into the bathroom. "Thanks!"

* * *

 

The water felt startling hot against his fur as the shower head turned on. He hadn't been able to get a proper cleaning since the capture, and he might as well take advantage of the privacy he had here to think. So far, everything was going well. He was on route to take down the Collaboration, actually made friends with Fenrir, and he had  _fun._

But something still nagged at him. Was he still worried about what was coming, or... was it Fenrir?

His mind kept leaning back towards the wolf, mostly because it seemed like he actually was being kind to the fox. But did he trust him? Probably not. But he had to at least show he could be trusted.

He was thorough with cleaning his dusty fur. The shampoo was a godsend with making his fur actually look red again. By the time he was out, he looked a lot better than when he had stepped in. Reynard dried himself off with a towel and wrapped it around himself. Didn't have time to grab clothes, but he'll grab some when he gets into the room.

He stepped out, noticing Fenrir was back to watching the TV. Noticing the fox had stepped, he looked him over before blushing and turning away. "Gimme a warning first, geez!"

Reynard smirked. "Relax. Just let me grab something to put on." Quickly grabbing a shirt and shorts, he put them on back in the bathroom.

He emerged, fully clothed. "That was surprisingly good. Nice and warm." He jumped back into the bed. "Anything new?"

Reynard could see that Fenrir had changed the channel. It looked to be ZNN, the news network from Zootopia. They were panning over a huge facility, police everywhere. "Something happen?"

Fenrir grimaced. "It was Barkheart. He... took hostages from some electrical plant, and no one has any idea about where they are or what condition they're in. Fucking hell..." He then grabbed the collar from the bedside. "I'm sorry about this, but... you have to put this back on."

The fox didn't say anything as he grabbed the collar, and put it around his neck. It snapped shut, locked in place. At least now it didn't feel that constricting on his neck. "It's fine, really."

Fenrir sighed. "Once we get to the base, I'll find the base director and try my hardest to help you get this off. Think his name was Savage or something. I'll look it up tomorrow."

He turned off the TV and rolled under the covers. "Good night."

Reynard sighed, and did the same. "Night."

Before he let himself go to sleep, he smiled. For all the stupid things Freelancer had done, at least they were smart enough to leave him with Fenrir. Reynard finally fell to sleep with little worries in his mind.

* * *

 

**Location Unknown**

* * *

 

"A few hours ago, Emil Barkheart, currently wanted by ZPD and FBI, raided an electrical plant crucial to powering Tundratown. Witnesses say that at least 20 to 30 mammals were tak-" The TV shut off, leaving the room in silence as the gray wolf mumbled at the table. The wolf wore a white jacket and custom yellow sunglasses. A figure was bound to a chair next to the table, hood over their face. The wolf strode over to the figure and whipped the hood off, revealing a white female fox. 

The wolf looked truly mad as he stared the fox in the eyes. "All of this work... to find ONE sinner!" He pounded the table. "You could have saved us a lot of work by just coming in peacefully. But you had to involve other people."

The fox said nothing as he went on raving. "You surrounded yourself with the weak, hoping to hide in the masses... but we found you all the same. And you have given us a gift... 25 lucky souls who can find their way through our means."

The fox stared at Barkheart with hatred in her eyes. She still kept herself silent.

"Even now, those you were with have been tested... and some stepped into our holy words easily. Giving them the means to fight their demons has always allowed me to bring them to my views." He grinned. "But the others... well they did not measure up at all."

Now the fox spoke, soft enough that Barkheart couldn't hear. But he stalked over to the fox, and lifted her head toward his. "What did you say?"

The fox grimaced, yelling "YOU FUCKING BASTAR-" before being cut off by Barkheart's slap.

Out of a side pocket in his jacket, Barkheart pulled out a knife, looking over the fox with anger. "I am a merciful mammal. I have seen the teachings of the true predator and prey. And you deny that you were apart of it too."

The fox began to cry. "They were innocent..."

Barkheart suddenly went into a more caring mode, stroking his hand along her back. "And yet you were the one to infect them with your sin. Your evil. But you can be saved."

The fox hiccuped as she sobbed, inconsolable. Barkheart went to the front of the fox, before fishing out a blue vial out of his other pocket. Gently leaning her head up, she swallowed the liquid voluntarily, as if it was natural. Instantly, she had calmed down, and all emotion was gone from her. The fox seemed like she was in a trance.

Barkheart slowly undid her restraints, and lifted her off the chair. "Do you see it now? A world free from our sin?" 

The fox nodded, allowing Barkheart to smile. "Then go meet with the others. Tell them your sin and how you were saved. You have finally come back to our pack, Mary."

The fox left the room, leaving Barkheart alone. Suddendly, his phone went off, prompting him to answer it.

"Barkheart." The ex-pastor's heart went cold.

"Kells. From what I've heard, you were dead." Barkheart paced around the room.

Barkheart could hear Kells's laugh. "News of my death was highly exaggerated. But I- my people were looking for you. I was planning to come today, but... I saw what you did on the news."

Barkheart tried to explain as calmly as he could. "One of my pack had left. I tried to bring her back as peacefully as I could but... things changed."

He waited for Kells's response.

Kells sighed. "We know that things can go bad sometimes. Hell, two of our own guys were taken in by Freelancer just a few days ago. But that doesn't change any of our plans. And this won't change any of your's, I presume?"   

Barkheart looked down at the empty vial. "Production of Bliss is still on-going. Despite our research into substitutes, we still have to use the same plant every batch. So, we need more of it."

"We'll bring more of it in. The embargo on most of the flowers related to  _Midnicampum holicithias_ after the Bellweather fuckup is still being enforced through most of the U.S, so the next batch will have to wait. But I have more pressing news. Freelancer is on to you."

Barkheart stood still. On the inside, he felt like screaming. But he had to stay strong. "How much do they know?"

The wolf could hear pages being looked through from Kells's speaker. "A couple of known associates, places of business, and minor things. I suggest you get to work on fixing those, Emil."

The call ended, leaving Emil Barkheart, for the first time in a while, worried about what he must do. Then, he let himself think back to his true purpose, to guide the strong, and break the weak. 

He smiled, a sinister grin. "Time to get to our holy work." 

   

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I based Barkheart around the main villain of Far Cry 5, Joseph Seed, a crazy cult leader with a army of followers. Barkheart also uses a similar drug to the one in the game, also called Bliss.  
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lj-80oXWNvE


	17. OPERATION 8490

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> THIS OVERVIEW CAN ONLY BE ACCESSED BY CERTIFIED COLLABORATION PERSONNEL  
> ARE YOU READY TO RECIEVE DATA?  
> Y/N

* * *

 

**OVERVIEW OF OPERATION 8490**

**DATE TAKEN: 7/28/1996**

**DESTRUCTION OF ~~CLASSIFIED~~ BY AGENT REDD ISHI**

* * *

_*WARNING, DATA CORRUPTION, DATA STILL UNDER REPAIR, ONCE DONE, PLEASE ALERT A SUPERIOR OFFICER *_

****~~CLASSIFIED~~** IS SEEN CLEANING A JACKET, A OCCUPATION ATTAINED AFTER HIS ESCAPE FROM TERRA 2. WHILE THE CAMERA IS IN BLACK AND WHITE, IT CAN BE SEEN CLEARLY THAT **~~CLASSIFIED~~ IS A MALE RED FOX, AGED 45. A PICTURE CAN BEEN SEEN ON THE NEARBY WALL DISPLAYING  ~~CLASSIFIED~~ WITH HIS WIFE AND CHILD. SINCE  ~~CLASSIFIED'S~~ DEATH, $#@ &!(***** ( _CORRUPT DATA DETECTED)_   **HAS NOT BEEN SEEN WHILE THE SON *#@!($#@! IS STILL UNDER COLLABORATION REVIEW ON WHAT ACTION TO TAKE. HIS POSSIBLE ABILITIES DUE TO HIS RELATION TO**

_**FURTHER ACCESS TO PROJECT ALPHA DETAILS RESTRICTED TO CLASS 12** _ **_PERSONNEL_ **

_**WOULD YOU LIKE PURGE RESTRICTED DATA?** _

_**Y/N** _

_**(Y)** _

**DATA PURGED**

**CONTINUING FROM LAST POINT IN CAMERA STREAM**

~~CLASSIFIED~~ **IS STILL CLEANING JACKET WHEN AGENT ISHI ENTERED THE SHOP. ISHI HAD BEEN LOYAL TO THE COLLABORATION SINCE HIS BIRTH, DUE TO BEING RAISED BY AGENTS INSERTED DURING THE 70'S. ISHI TURNS THE OPEN SIGN TO CLOSED, AND LOCKS THE DOOR.**

**ISHI SPEAKS. "It wasn't easy finding you. You've changed you name, ** ~~CLASSIFIED.~~ But you slipped up with the child. Really, naming his middle name after your father, and not thinking it would stick out? You've lost your touch,  ~~CLASSIFIED.~~****

****~~CLASSIFIED~~ SIGHED, HIS VOICE DEEP AS HE STARED AT THE YOUNGER FOX. "You've changed too, I see. They give you the formula, I assume?"** **

**ISHI APPEARS TO NOD, PULLING OUT A SILENCED PISTOL. "So? Even if I didn't, you would still have no chance."**

****~~CLASSIFIED~~ LOOKS DOWN INTO THE JACKET. INSIDE IS A DESERT EAGLE PISTOL, AIMED AT ISHI BUT THE FOX DOES NOT SEE IT, DUE TO THE JACKET BEING IN THE WAY.** **

****~~CLASSIFIED~~ STARES DOWN ISHI. "Do you really want to do this? My father would never stoop this low. Never."** **

****ISHI looks back at ~~CLASSIFIED.~~ "He's not in control anymore. He's gone."** **

**THAT IS ALL IT TAKES FOR ISHI TO SURPRISE** ~~CLASSIFIED~~ **TAKING A SHOT AT HIM WHILE HIS GUARD IS DOWN**.  ** ** ~~CLASSIFIED~~ LETS OFF A SHOT OF HIS DESERT EAGLE, RIPPING A LARGE HOLE IN ISHI'S SHOULDER.****

****~~CLASSIFIED~~ FALLS TO THE GROUND, HEAVILY INJURED. HE ATTEMPTS TO AIM AGAIN BUT ISHI FIRES ANOTHER BULLET INTO  ~~CLASSIFIED'S~~ PAW.  ~~CLASSIFIED~~ GRUNTS IN PAIN.** **

****ISHI AIMS AT ~~CLASSIFIED'S~~ HEAD, LOOKING DOWN AT THE INJURED FORM OF THE FOX.** **

****~~CLASSIFIED~~ SPEAKS**** "*$@)!( _save_ )$*#)@($*@ ** _w_** (@) **i** $^$ _l_ (* _d_ $^# **e** _"_

_(WARNING: FURTHER DATA CORRUPTION DETECTED. UNABLE TO ACCESS CURRENT DATABASE FILES AT THIS TIME, CONTINUE?)_

**Y/N**

**(Y)**

**ISHI SHOOTS HIS PISTOL INTO ** ~~CLASSIFIED'S~~ HEAD. HE APPEARS TO DIE INSTANTLY. ISHI APPROACHES THE BODY, AND FIRES AGAIN. THE NOISE OF SIRENS IS HEARD AS ISHI SIGHS.****

****"$*#)!#)$@!!$ &$&)($&!)$&)(!&()&$()!&()$&(&!($(."** **

****ISHI EXITS THE BUILDING.** **

****12 MINUTES AFTER THE SHOOTING, ~~CLASSIFIED'S~~ SON *#@!($#@! ENTERS THE ROOM, COMING HOME FROM SCHOOL AND * &$(*q&%&&%&)q&%()(@%()@()%&@&%()%&())&()@&%()** **

_(SEVERE DATA CRASH DETECTED.)_

**WOULD YOU LIKE TO CONTINUE FROM A BACKUP?**

**Y/N**

**(N)**

_(WARNING: PARTIAL DATA CORRUPTION REASSEMBLED)_

**WOULD YOU LIKE TO JUMP TO THAT POINT?**

**Y/N**

**(Y)**

****~~CLASSIFIED~~ FALLS TO THE GROUND, HEAVILY INJURED. HE ATTEMPTS TO AIM AGAIN BUT ISHI FIRES ANOTHER BULLET INTO  ~~CLASSIFIED'S~~ PAW.  ~~CLASSIFIED~~ GRUNTS IN PAIN.** **

****ISHI AIMS AT ~~CLASSIFIED'S~~ HEAD, LOOKING DOWN AT THE INJURED FORM OF THE FOX.** **

****~~CLASSIFIED~~ SPEAKS "** ** _Don't hurt my son, please... don't hurt Nicholas. Promise me this, Redd."_

_**ISHI SHOOTS HIS PISTOL INTO ** ~~CLASSIFIED'S~~  HEAD. HE APPEARS TO DIE INSTANTLY. ISHI APPROACHES THE BODY, AND FIRES AGAIN. THE NOISE OF SIRENS IS HEARD AS ISHI SIGHS.**** _

_"I promise."_

_****ISHI EXITS THE BUILDING.** ** _

_**12 MINUTES AFTER THE SHOOTING,** ~~CLASSIFIED'S~~ **SON *#@!($#@! ENTERS THE ROOM, COMING HOME FROM SCHOOL AND ATTEMPTS TO RUN TO THE FATHER. UNABLE TO RESUSCITATE, THE CHILD STAYS BY THE BODY UNTIL EMERGENCY SERVICES ARRIVED.** _

_(END OF OVERVIEW)_

**WOULD YOU LIKE TO EXIT?** _  
_

**Y/N**

**(Y)**

**BARKHEART, EMIL LOGGING OFF**

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> End of Act 1. And now we get some more lore!  
> I was kind of inspired by SCP logs and what not, and wanted to test out my skills some more.  
> IF you've ever seen CA: Civil War, then you might guess where this Overview might play into.  
> And you win a congrats if you figure out what this might entail for a certain character...


	18. Let it out

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A chapter for my friend Purple (who's been loving this fic and Rocket). A healthy dose of Angst and caring.  
> I do need to do more cute things with them :D

* * *

  **March 30, 2018**

**Streamliner Train 8465**

* * *

Rocket had to admit, this was a pretty nice setup.

Perfectly fluffy bed (that he laid in for at least an hour after he got on it), premium TV, bathrooms, the works. Honestly, Asher had to agree with that (after testing out the bed...multiple times).

He sighed as he laid back, Asher reading through a nearby magazine of some sort.

"This... is the best bed I've ever laid on in my life." He smirked. "If Zootopia is like this, I'm moving there."

Asher glanced over at the raccoon. "Possibly. A vacation would be nice. But living there? I've heard it's pretty crowded. Way too many mammals packed together. Not my type of scene."

Rocket grimaced. He was right about that. The raccoon didn't like being inside huge crowds. He just felt... crushed between the huge loads of mammals. He blurred it out in his mind. No time to think of bad things.

Asher slumped out of bed unexpectedly, leaving Rocket to look at the shirt-less coyote's form. He looked out the window into the dark sky passing by.

Asher leaning down onto the window, his left robotic arm twitching a bit. "To be honest, this is the first time I've left Chicago since.." He trailed off.

Rocket looked over to Asher as he got up, standing next to the coyote and watching the landscape pass by. "Ash..."

Asher sighed. "It's nothing. Rocky, It's-" He stopped as the raccoon cupped his muzzle in his paws.

Rocket looked serious and caring in one expression as he stared into the coyote's eyes. "It's not nothing. I don't want you feeling all sad over something stupid. Ash... It's okay."

The coyote sighed as he slipped from the gentle paws of his lover. "I... never told you how I lost my arm, did I?"

Rocket did remember that ever since he knew Asher, he's always had that robotic arm. All he had known was that he had lost the arm when he was a peacekeeper on the Old Continents. "You never told me the details."

Asher began to speak. "I-We were on patrol. Before Freelancer, so I was part of a squad with four others. All foxes. Didn't realize till afterward, they were all brothers. Had one that wasn't able to join up because he was placed in another patrol. They gave me hell for it the first few days but they saw I was an innocent young yote with a wish for shooting up terrorists. I w-was so stupid thinking it was gonna be easy."

Rocket put his paw on his shoulder. He could see the coyote trying to hold back his emotions.

Asher grimaced as he continued. "We passed one of the burning buildings that had been attacked the night before. And then I heard a voice calling for help. It was young, sharp. It sounded so real..."

His arm shook more as he spoke. "It was a bunny. Could be older than 10 or so. He looked hurt. I approached him, but... he pulled out a grenade. Threw it at my feet. And ran."

Rocket looked at him in shock. "W-what? How..."

Asher's left paw curled into a fist. "They...the terrorists trained their own children to booby trap, to look innocent enough to fall for it. And I did. I tried to jump into the nearby building. It went off. The structure was already about to fall apart but... I got pinned. No way out. Then the ambush started."

Asher looked down onto the floor, not wanting to look the raccoon in the eyes. "They starting raining fire on the armored car. It could take a few hits but... an RPG was what took it out. I...heard them scream as they burned alive. A-all of them."

Rocket didn't say anything, just keeping his eyes on the coyote. He didn't want to say anything, anything that would hurt him even more as he spelled out what was breaking him apart.

Asher spoke like a whisper. "I... was still stuck after all of them had left. I couldn't get my arm out. It was already nearly severed from the frame of the house smashing into So...took my knife...and starting cutting. I...couldn't feel it as I cut it off. Think that was the only thing that saved me. Just...adrenaline."

Rocket looked him in the eyes. "Ash..."

Only now was Asher close to crying, his eyes close to tearing up. "If I hadn't gone up to the child, If I just walked away, they would still be alive. I had to come back, seeing the look on the last brother's face as he realized his brothers weren't coming back. I failed them."

It was at that moment that Rocket burst towards Asher with the best hug he could, strong and caring. Rocket just closed his eyes as he felt the coyote's head on his shoulder, tears streaking down his face. "It's not your fault."

And then the waterworks flew. The two just knelt down, hugging each other with tears flowing down their faces. Rocket never was the one to cry, even among friends. But now? He knew he had to carry that weight. Both of them had to carry their own demons, their own feelings of failure. Before Asher, he never truly cared for anyone. Just money and whatever made him happy. But now he had Asher. The coyote was what made him happy.

It was Asher who first let go, sniffling as he looked back at Rocket. "T-thank you. I-I've never told anyone the full story. Even Sam. I...I couldn't face her with it."

Rocket stroked his paw across Asher's face. "This pain is hurting you inside. Kinda how I was hurting too. I... don't want you to ever hate yourself, Ash."

Asher slowly got up, helping the raccoon up. His eyes were dryer now, his tears had stopped flowing. The coyote had a brief smile as he looked over at Rocket. "What now?"

All of this emotion just made Rocket tired. He felt exhausted where moments ago, he couldn't feel like sleeping. He flopped down onto the bed. "I... need my sleep before we get there."

He smiled, snuggling up next to Rocket as they slowly fell asleep.

Before he was fully unconscious, he felt the raccoon slowly bring him towards him, his head snuggling his soft chest. He let out something akin to a small purr.

He heard the voice of Rocket speaking softly under him. "I love you, Ash..."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *The Old Continents are kinda like a amalgamation of Europe, Russia, and China in one big area around the size of Europe. Lots of strife over certain rights for predators means an IRA situation with some going against the law after certain laws were passed protecting predators. Hence a mass migration during the 1940's to the U.S (Which had been established same year as normal earth's US). The fighting was still going on to Zootopia present day, though it's not as bad as when Asher was deployed.  
> Another fact: Barkheart's parents were immigrants from the Old Continents.


	19. Convoy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Convey Exo-1, on route to Zootopia. Package 89p is ready for transit."  
> \--  
> "Understood Exo-1. Safe-house ready to receive in 0400 hours."  
> \--

 

* * *

 March 29th, 2018

Border Road into Zootopia

* * *

 

August didn’t like having to go in these convoys. Tightly cramped, and always having to watch over dangerous items. At least he was in the last car. The middle car was stuck with the subject 89p. Having to watch over that _thing_ was just… not healthy. The damn thing didn’t even talk when he was first shoved into the car. It just… stared right at him. Gave him the feeling of being judged by one of the gods.

He brushed off the thought as he heard the crackle of the radio from his front pocket. He grabbed it and pressed the button as a voice came out of it.

“Exo-3, do you read?”

August responded back. “Yes. We copy.”

“Exo-1 has spotted a fallen tree in the road. We are moving to stop while we clear it.”

August sighed in annoyance. Great, more time spent in this damn hot truck with all wolves. The Collaboration always tends to stick canines as their main task force. Efficient, but August hated all the damn rest of them trying to act alpha. If they saw what the thing they were escorting could do, August bet all of them would probably shit their damn pants.

He felt the car slow down to a stop, leaning his head back against the wall. This whole thing better go quickly.

Several minutes later and August was about to jump out of the damn truck when his radio crackled again. He pushed the button again.

 “Exo-3? Looks like the tree was cut down deliberately. We’re moving to-“

Suddenly the voice was cut off by a loud gurgle, causing August to drop the radio. What the hell?

Just as that happened, August began to hear gunfire erupting from outside the car. The other wolves in the car jerked alert, guns at the ready as the gunfire went on. The grey wolf could hear screams, the sounds of the other men in the convoy being killed and injured.

After a few minutes, the gunfire slowed to crawl, before ceasing entirely. All of the wolves kept their guns aimed at the door. The car was bulletproof, meant to last under heavy fire. All they had to do was wait for back up and-

“Well, hello ladies.”

August whirled around, seeing someone new that had somehow gotten in the car. A male grey wolf, early 20’s, wearing a red jacket and blue jeans, a blue tip on his tail, and totally unarmed.

The newcomer smirked at him. “Wow, you guys look terrified.” And then he just disappeared.

August’s mind was racing before in the same second the wolf appeared again with the same smirk, but with something in his paws.

“You dropped these.” And in his paws were…

Flashbang pins.

In last seconds before he was blinded, August cursed the gods for his terrible damn luck.

* * *

 

Joseph had to say, this thing went off pretty smoothly. The guards had been all tied up, left locked in one of the cars. Their buddies would come to find them. Now onto the captive.

The middle car was more reinforced inside. He did the same thing he had done in the last car, only to find no guards and a locked pod. With a mammal inside. Joseph had gotten some of the bigger mammals in the group to drag it out and lay it down on the hardened ground.

And now it sat there. Still unopened.

“Felix!” Joseph called out to the older feline, who was busy taking the ammunition out of the enemy guns. “Need some help over here!”

The feline sighed, dropping the unloaded M4, before overlooking the pod. Felix scoffed. “I thought you were the master at getting inside things.”

 Joseph rolled his eyes. “You really think I can fit in there? Or how getting inside there might help?  I may be master at getting inside things, but not everything.”

Felix smirked. “Well, you should’ve renamed your title to master of getting inside beds, if you want to be specific now.”

Joseph blushed. “Let’s get back to the thing at hand. Think you can short circuit the pod? Open it somehow.”

Felix pointed his paws at the pod. “Stand back.” Joseph stepped back, watching as lightning came out of Felix’s paws, cracking with energy as they absorbed into the pod. After a few seconds, the pod burst open.

Joseph looked down into the now opened pod. It was a smaller mammal, dressed in some sort of armor. Its face was covered, but seeing it’s unarmored ringtail, it had to be a raccoon. The wolf sighed. Another subject taken by the Collaboration’s paws. He stepped away from the pod.

“We’re good to- “Joseph was cut off as a paw wrapped around his neck, choking him in an instant. It was the subject, now awake, gripping his neck with his paw.

Felix, letting out a curse, threw a bolt of lightning at him. Not enough to kill but enough for most mammals to stop what they were doing. But to Joseph’s utter shock, it was like the bolt went through his chest, an aura of yellow-orange energy surrounding him as it happened. And he was still holding on to Joseph’s neck as this was happening.

Joseph tried to speak but was unable to. The armored mask of the subject looked right at him as the life was being forced out of him before suddenly it stopped.

He fell to the ground, trying to breathe as he saw the subject hunched over in pain. As soon as he was able to catch his breath, Joseph teleported away from the subject before aiming his tranq gun at him.

“We aren’t trying to hurt you!” He kept the gun aimed at the subject while Felix went for help.

Joseph could hear the subject’s labored breathing slowly come back to a normal pace before he stood back up. Whatever his power was, dodging that bolt took some power out of him.

The mask dematerialized off the subject’s face, revealing a grimacing raccoon. He looked at the wolf apologetically. “I…”

Joseph lowered his gun. “I understand why you did that. Some mammals freak out like that too. Hell, the first time they found me I reacted like that too. But you’re free now.”

The raccoon’s eyes narrowed. “You took them out? All of them?”

The wolf nodded. “Yeah. All of them.” Joseph could see Felix and some of the other mammals looking over at them from the other side, ready to move in case something went wrong.

The raccoon looked at him. “You’re… like me. Powered.”

Joseph was closer now, gun aimed down but also still aware. “Yeah. I can teleport. Pretty useful for taking down pricks like these. All of here are.”

The raccoon let out a little laugh at that. “I… that sounds like a good power.” He looked close to passing out even though he had just been woken up. If he looked closely enough, he could swear parts of his body left a ghostly trail. An aftereffect of his power? Joseph was at least close enough to catch the raccoon if he was about to fall.

“You have a name? I’m Joseph Rocker.” The wolf extended his paw to the raccoon.

It was a few seconds before the raccoon took the wolf’s paw.

“Ranger. Ranger Raccoon.”


	20. It's a big city, ya know?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With the team finally in Zootopia, the hunt for Barkheart begins.

* * *

**March 31st, 2018**

**Zootopia**

* * *

 

"Have to say, It's a pretty damn more colorful place than Chicago."

And Rocket was totally right. It was pretty damn colorful. Lights and all sorts of colors shone from buildings all across the pavilion. Hundreds of mammals roamed around in crowds, varied in species and different fur colors. Even a few species that Rocket hadn't seen before.

Rocket looked around as the group moved to their destination. "So where we goin?" This city just felt cramped to him, loads of buildings and mammals all around. Reminded him of that one time he spent in Zoo York with Black Jack. 

Asher smiled. "Freelancer offered us a couple rooms at one of the nearby hotels. Supposed to be a five-star kind of place. Big rooms, room service, the works. Have to say, I like this city already."

Thankfully, the hotel that the group was looking for wasn't too far. A bright gold exterior with wide windows, the place stood out immediately out of all the other buildings.  

Fenrir whistled. "Zootopia got its perks, doesn't it?" 

It was easy after finding the hotel to check in, get everything set up in their rooms, then prepare to head over to the base.

* * *

 

Reynard had put on a scarf to cover the collar that bit into his neck. It just seemed demeaning to have. To be watched. And part of him did believe that he needed to be. His "brother" was an emotionless killer. And they thought of him as one too. 

He nearly flinched as he heard Fenrir walk in. "You all set?"

Reynard sighed. "Yeah. Just have to finish up." He put said red jacket on over his white shirt as he spoke. 

The wolf smirked. "That looks good on you."

The fox blushed. "I... really? I do?"

Fenrir smiled, genuinely pleased. "Yeah. Red looks good on you."

The fox scratched the back of his head. "Thanks." The two began to leave the hotel. While leaving, he noticed the wolf carrying a large duffle bag. "What's that?"

Fenrir looked down at the bag as they walked. "Oh, this? Sam wanted me to carry this. It's Asher's backup arm."

Reynard's eyes widened. "He has a backup arm?"

Fenrir scoffed. "Yeah. It's mostly in case he has to have Rocket do repairs or what not. It's more barebones but it worked mostly as good as his regular arm. It's a different color from his regular one"

"That's...wow." Reynard chuckled. "How many backup arms does Asher have?"

The fox could hear Fenrir chuckling. "Just this one. These prosthetics can be hard to manufacture from what I hear. Materials, nerves, loads of things."

The two looked to see that the ride was there, a large black van big enough to fit most of them. 

Reynard saw Sam talking to a rabbit, grey with black stripes on his face and ears, dressed in a suit. He also saw Asher and Rocket near the back of the truck, talking over something. 

He saw the two mammals end their conversation as he and Fenrir approached them. "You must be Mr. Ishi and Mr. Ferrison."

The rabbit extended his paw. Reynard took it and shook it. "I am. And you?"

The rabbit smirked. "Savage. Jack Savage."

* * *

The ride was long as the van went through several of the districts of Zootopia. Fenrir looked out in awe over all the different ecosystems that were apart of the city. His gaze was broken by the chuckle of Savage.

"The newcomers always seem to find the views amazing." He was sitting down across from the team, overlooking them with his curious blue eyes. "After a while, it can get stale to see the same things again and again." He said with a twinge of regret.

Rocket smirked. "Chicago got its stuff, but this place? It's... new." He to had a similar look of awe but seemed afraid to show it fully, wanting to seem tough in front of Savage. He felt Asher squeeze his paw, then felt himself feel relaxed.

Savage also looked out at the city as they moved. "Much of the infrastructure was built in the 30's with the massive migration. Mammals breaking down barriers to build up homes and places. A community united. And I want it to stay that way."

Fenrir nodded. "But Barkheart wants to disrupt that." 

Savage sighed. "That's what we believe. He wants chaos, just like the Collaboration. With that chaos, they would try to invade our world again. And do who knows what to our people. Which is why we need to end this as quickly as we can."

Fenrir could now that they had exited the city limits. "Where is this base anyway?"

"Not too far. If an attack ever comes, we don't want civilians in the crossfire." Savage said. "We built our HQ into the mountains." 

Fenrir could see as the van went off the beaten path how close they were to the mighty mountains that were near the city. "How big is this place?"

"Big enough." The van came to a stop at a smoother part of the rock formation.

Fenrir was about to ask what they were doing right until realizing that the rock was opening. It was a door, looking exactly like the rocks as the van moved into the complex. 

Fenrir looked over to see Reynard smiling. "Woah..." The wolf smiled, glad to see a smile on the fox's face.

As the van entered the complex, the door closed back on them, leaving only a Rock formation with nothing out of the ordinary.

* * *

 The inside of the base was made with grey concrete walls, reinforced with steel to protect from explosives or earthquakes. The base had been established in 1984, then rebuilt to current standards in 2006. 

The group separated for a bit, hoping to meet up later in the "War Room". 

Sam had gone with Asher and Rocket to overlook some equipment (and make sure they were undressing each other in a corner together), while Reynard was following Fenrir along with Savage to the "War Room".

Fenrir walked quickly with Savage as they approached the "War Room". 

Fenrir waited before speaking. "Sir? I would-"

Savage chuckled."Just call me Savage. You sound like a new recruit on his first day calling me sir." He looked over at the wolf. "What do you need?"

Fenrir continued. "Rey- Mr.Ishi was previously on their side once, but now he's with us. But the mammals in charge of overseeing him forced him to wear a shock collar of sorts and-"

"You want me to take it off, don't you?"

Fenrir gaped at him. "Uh...Yeah. I'm just surprised-"

Fenrir felt a paw force something into his. "Here."

Fenrir looked down. It was a key similar to his. Except it had a blue streak across it.

"It's a master key. Once you unlock his collar, bring it back to me." Savage moved to leave before Fenrir could even ask him why.

He went over to the fox, reaching under his scarf to open the collar, and take it off gently.

Reynard looked at him in shock. "What?"

"Savage gave me the key." Smirked, Fenrir threw the collar into the trash. "Still, I think that scarf looks great."

Reynard stood still for a moment before grabbing Fenrir in a huge hug. Fenrir just felt the fur on his neck tingle as the fox's arms were around his back. And as quickly as it started, it was over. The fox grinned as he raced his paws over his neck.

"That damn thing was torture." He looked at the wolf with genuine appreciation. "Thank you!"

Fenrir rubbed the back of his neck. "No problem."

The fox raced to the "War Room", Fenrir trailing behind him.

* * *

 


	21. Darker and Darker

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With two potential targets, the team separates and makes a horrifying discovery.

 

* * *

**March 31st, 2018**

**Zootopia Freelancer HQ**

* * *

 

The "War Room" was a lot more than what the name implied. It was a massive room, computer stations all around and a large table in the center. Fenrir could see that the rest of the group had made it. He smiled as he saw Asher and Rocket holding paws.

He took his place at the table along with Reynard as Savage leaped up onto the table. Several holographic screens popped up around him as he began to speak.

"With the rise of Barkheart's ongoing activity, we have two potential leads for what he might plan." Savage gestured to one of the screens, displaying a picture of a young adult cougar. "This is Devon Graves. A former chemistry teacher at the University of Zootopia until he was fired due to threats against a group at the school. We believe he may have been in contact with Barkheart for the past couple weeks, but he's gone silent."

Sam looked at the screen with her arms crossed. "And you want us to check it out."

Savage nodded. "Yes. But there's also another issue." The other screen popped up, a picture from the deal Barkheart had made for getting his weapons. "We also need to figure out how exactly Barkheart is getting these weapons and what he plans to do."

Fenrir looked up at the still picture of Barkheart and Kells. "So, you want us to split up and check both these leads out?" He smirked. "Cover more ground."

"Exactly." Savage lowered the screens. "Get your gear in order. Asher, Sam, and Rocket, secure Graves's apartment. Fenrir and Reynard, look through the site of the weapons deal and see if you find anything."

* * *

Rolling up on the apartment that Grave's, it seemed unassuming. Asher felt an air of unease as they entered the complex, the unease growing a bit stronger as they got closer to Grave's apartment.

Sam did too as they approached the apartment. "Sorry to use an old movie reference, but I've got a bad feeling about this."

Rocket chuckled. "Damn right."

Approaching the door, Asher put his paw on the doorknob, only to see it was already open. Grimacing, he pulled out his sidearm and slowly opened the door.

It was chaos in the small room. Papers scattered everywhere around the room, along with a chair knocked over. 

The trio walked into the room cautiously, looking out for any type of hostiles. 

The room was pretty small, with a separate bedroom and bathroom over on the side. The doors to them weren't opened at all, seemed untouched.

Rocket then noticed a small safe sitting at the corner of the room. "I've got that covered." He said while grinning.

Sam and Asher took positions by the doors, then carefully breached the two rooms.

The bathroom was bare, with just a tub and a toilet. It was surprisingly cleaner than the other room. The sink had been curiously removed for an unknown reason.

The bedroom was a lot bigger than the previous two rooms. It didn't have a normal bed, instead having just a sleeping bag curled in the corner. Along with that, there was a table with more papers scattered about, along with a map of the city hanging on the wall. Several pins were placed in certain areas of the map.

"This does not look good, not at all." Asher grumbled. 

Sam entered the room. "I've looked at some of the papers. Looks like this guy cooked up some fucked up shit for Barkheart. Drugs that impair mental states, some that cause mammals to go crazy. If he's planning an attack, this is what he's gonna use for it."

Asher grimaced. "Shit. Hopefully, that Safe gives us an answer for what we need."

As Asher exited the bedroom, he smiled as he could see Rocket had opened the safe. But his face turned to horror as a dart burst out of the opened safe, a booby trap of some sort that was set off.

It pierced the top of Rocket's chest. He too was shocked as it happened, crawling back from the safe as the dart hit him. Rocket looked down at the dart in his chest. It was a vial of some sort, a purple-like liquid that went into his body fast. Asher could see Rocket's eyes slowly dilate as he curled his paws around the dart.

“Oh, f-fuck. Oh god.” Rocket mumbled.


	22. Teeth and Claws

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Asher and Sam are in for a struggle.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One thing that I wanted to specify is that Asher is Heterochromatic, with one eye being green and the other blue.

* * *

**March 31st, 2018**

**Grave's Apartment**

* * *

 

It felt like hours had passed in between the seconds after Asher saw the dart hitting Rocket, and the effects quickly hitting the raccoon. Rocket was shaking as he tried to get up, a slow growl coming from him. Sam grabbed the shocked coyote, rushing him back into the bedroom before slamming the door shut. She brought the table up to block the door, right as something slammed against the door.

She grimaced. "Fuck!" Their tranq darts had been left in the other room, with no time at all to grab them. She sighed in frustration, leaning against the wall as the door was pounded on again. 

Asher struggled to keep his composure. "What...what did Rocket get hit with?" 

Sam looked over at the still shaking door. "It's making him angry. Feral, I think. There was a huge case over this a year or two ago. If Barkheart wants to bring that into a more potent form..."

Asher finished the sentence. "He could strike more targets at once. Make it into a chemical weapon. Turn the city into a bloodbath." He noticed he was shaking as he leaned against the bed.

Suddenly, the slamming on the door stopped. Asher could hear a few growls before it got silent.

"We need to get those tranq darts. If our backup comes..." Asher didn't want to finish the sentence. Rocket could injure someone or even injure himself. Asher had to stop him and get him sedated.

Sam sighed. "You have a plan?"

Asher nodded. "I'll distract him. You grab the darts and inject him. Hopefully, we do this fast enough before he gets hurt."

Sam and Asher quietly moved the table, then Asher stood in front of the door. 

As he entered the room, Rocket moved in a flash, attempting to grapple the coyote, Asher used his arm to force Rocket off as Sam ran to grab the darts. Rocket snarled at him, his eyes dilated and staring with hate at him. Asher grimaced as the raccoon clawed at his waist, cutting at his chest with his claws. 

Sam thrust the first tranq dart into his back, causing the raccoon to growl louder and throw Sam to the ground. The raccoon leaped at her before being forced back by Asher. As the dart took effect, he seemed more maniac, his paws always swiping at the two coyotes. 

"Rocket, if you can hear me-" Asher's attempt to calm the raccoon was stopped as a claw raked along part of his cheek, creating a large scar that caused Asher to flinch, releasing Rocket onto the ground as he yelped in pain.

Sam jabbed another tranq dart violently into the raccoon, who attempted to claw at her before collapsing to the ground. He kept trying to get back up, the tranq darts effects slowing him down as he attempted to get up again and again, but kept collapsing.

"R-rocket." Asher slowly approached the whining raccoon, who was still trying to claw feebly at them. "It's going to be okay. You're going to be okay..." Asher knelt down next to Rocket.

 "Rocket, It's going to be okay..."

* * *

Rocket woke up, his eyes opening to the sunlight drifting into his room. He was in a hospital room of some sort, and noted he was pawcuffed to the bed. He saw Asher was also asleep in a nearby chair, his head leaned back against the wall.

Rocket tried to rack his mind on what brought him here until he realized what exactly had happened. He was hit with something and then he...he did something bad. He knew it. He hurt someone. He could feel blood on his claws.

The raccoon didn't realize how badly he was panicked until Asher had run up to him, Rocket's heavy breathing waking the coyote up from his sleep. 

"It's okay! It's okay. Just calm down, you're fine!" Asher held Rocket's paw in his paw as the raccoon slowly began to calm down and breathe normally again.

As he was calm enough, he finally spoke. "What...happened?"

Asher sighed, sitting on the bed while still holding Rocket's paw. "You... there was a booby trap. Dart filled with one of Graves potent drugs. It..." He took his time to come up with the right words. "Feral."

Rocket looked Asher in the eyes, his expression serious. "I...hurt someone didn't I? I just feel like I did and-" It was then he noticed a bandage on Asher's cheek and the words vanished out his mouth.

Asher saw he noticed and looked down at the floor. "Rocket..."

Rocket's eyes filled with tears as he tried not to look at the coyote. "I hurt you... why... why are you here?"

The coyote looked back up at Rocket. "What do you mean?"

Rocket withdrew his paw from Asher's grip. "I hurt you! Scarred you! You should hate me! I.. I could've killed..." He didn't finish the thought as Asher took in the words Rocket said.

The raccoon closed his eyes, waiting for the coyote to just leave him behind like his family did, like his "friends" did, like everyone he cared about.

But Asher stayed. He felt the coyote hug him, his arms tightly around him as the coyote also cried, his tears dripping on his fur.

"Why would I ever leave you?" Asher cradled his paw under Rocket's head as he slowly kissed the raccoon, allowing Rocket to accept the kiss slowly.

It felt like hours before they separated from the kiss, the two looking at eachother with care and love. Rocket blushed, his fear slowly going away.

"I'm...I'm sorry." Rocket carefully stroked Asher's face, being careful not to hurt the injured side of his face.

Asher let out a small smile. "Don't be. Don't ever think you aren't worthy of love. From anyone."

Rocket was about to continue before Sam leaned through the door, smiling at the two of them. "Glad to see you awake."

Asher looked over at his sister. "Sam. Rocket's awake."

She smirked. "Good. You tell him how long he's been asleep? And the  _other_ thing?"

Asher sighed. "I'll tell him that soon, Sam. So go back to trying to get Savage on a date, please?"

Sam blushed before groaning in annoyance, "We aren't... ugh! I'll tell the others while you two catch up."

She left, closing the door into the room. Asher kept hold of Rocket's paw, slowly rubbing it. 

"So how long have I been asleep? And what is the  _other_ thing?" Rocket questioned

Asher grimaced. "Well, you've been asleep for about a week. And the other thing..." He hesitated as he spoke. "While we went to look over Grave's place, Fenrir and Reynard went over to a potential weapons deal site."

"And what happened?" Rocket said.

"They...there was a conflict between them, the dealers, and a third party of some sort. These people... they had powers, Rocket. Some sort of teleporting power and another that could walk through walls. They ran before we could question them but..."

He sighed. "We got fur samples of them. And... one of them was your brothers."


	23. Pursuit

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As the events at Graves's apartment transpire, Fenrir and Reynard run into their own trouble.

* * *

**March 31st, 2018**

**Warehouse 15, Tundratown**

* * *

 Savage's intel showed what might have been another possible place for a weapons deal, a Warehouse in Tundratown that was abandoned. With them storing the weapons here, it was the Perfect place to hopefully capture some bad guys.

But so far, no one really came for the first hour they were there. Reynard groaned in annoyance. "Do we really have to be radio silent?"

Fenrir shrugged. "Guess so. Stakeouts  _suck_. Super hard."

Reynard sighed. "Still, sitting here is just so damn boring. Can't even talk to our ZPD backup unless someone comes here." 

Savage had gotten ZPD to also stay nearby, in case things got bad. Fenrir did actually talk to a couple of the officers on the way to the stakeout, some bunny, and a fox. Just small talk really. 

"Those two seemed...interesting," Reynard said as he looked over the dashboard of the car for the 57th time. 

Fenrir scoffed. "They seem like less like just partners and more like the personification of sexual tension."

Reynard looked at the wolf quizzically. "Really?" He chuckled softly. "I did not think that at all."

Fenrir crossed his arms. "Those two seem like true friends. Ones that will stick with you through everything." He smiled. "Having someone like that by your side, they either become your best friend or even something more."

Reynard blushed as he kept his face away. "Y-yeah, but what do you think ab-" He was cut off as he saw something enter the building quickly. A figure dressed in black moving into a side entrance "Shit!"

* * *

 

Motioning for Fenrir to tell ZPD to surround the place, the two mammals ran towards the entrance where the mammals had gone in.

Taking sides by the door, Fenrir opened it slowly, breaching the room with his pistol in the air. Reynard was right behind him, being cautious as he looked around the maze of containers in the warehouse.

"Shit..." He then heard the running of feet across metal, the sound echoing across the metal. He also heard the sound of several weapons being cocked, along with a yell here and there. Fenrir and Reynard ran towards the sounds. 

Rounding the corner, they came upon an awkward scene. Unconcious bodies of the supposed dealers everywhere, a wolf in a red jacket attempting to load weapons into a duffle bag, and an animal, a tail that might be a raccoon's,  in a heavy black jacket, who had just noticed the pair.

The wolf turned to see the pair. "Eep!" He yelped. The black jacket mammal looked annoyed at them as he approached.

Fenrir took aim first but wasn't even able to shout out a warning before a solid roundhouse kick from the black jacket mammal went right over him as he ducked, hitting a metal container...

and passing through it, which allowed the mammal to rush his momentum into getting into cover and away from the tranq shots that Fenrir was firing. The wolf in the red jacket grabbed the duffle bag and ran. 

Reynard took aim and...

He vanished.

Reynard blinked, his mouth agape. "What the fuck?", He muttered before he saw the red jacket jump from one of the containers to another, laughing with glee.

Meanwhile, Fenrir chased the black jacket down, finally finding the mammal slowing down behind a container, attempting to catch his breath.

Fenrir pointed his gun at the mammal. "Now just surrender and tell us-" And the mammal phased through the wall, throwing a middle finger as he phased through the container.

Fenrir cursed. Loudly. "FUCKER!" He grimaced, rushing to run over to the other side of the containers.

Meanwhile, Reynard was keeping pace with the red jacket, the wolf laughing as he ran from each container to another container. He wooped in as he was almost reached the exit-

before he didn't see a low hanging pipe. 

Tripping off the container, the wolf reflexively teleported to the ground, landing safely. With the fox aiming his gun right at his head.

The wolf smirked, winking. "Hey, handsome."

Reynard gawked. "Wh- are you trying to flirt with me? After I chased you around for about 10 minutes?"

The wolf shrugged. "Well, you kinda did point your guns at us immediately. Kinda rude, ya know?" 

Reynard's eyes narrowed in annoyance. " _We_ pointed our guns because you were grabbing guns from a weapons dealer. Pretty damn suspicious. But who the hell-" He was cut off as an arm wrapped around his throat.

" **Gun Down."** A synthetic voice came through the black jacket. Now that he was close, Reynard could see that under his hoodie was a helmet of some sort, covering his face. He complied, throwing his tranq gun onto the floor. The black jacket threw him away from the red jacket mammal, Reynard gasping for air.

The red jacket glared at the black jacket, grabbing the duffle bag he had dropped from the fall. "Can you at least warn me before you go and choke a cute guy? Come on." He scoffed then looked at the fox apologetically.

"Sorry about that!" Before he left, he grabbed Reynard's wallet that had been tossed in the struggle, looked at it for a second before tossing it over. "You got a cute name."

He winked, before him and the black jacket disappeared.

Reynard saw as Fenrir ran up to him, looking pretty pissed off. "Who the hell were those guys?"

* * *

 

Ranger sighed as the helmet dematerialized off his face, crossing his arms as JR drove the car they had taken off the street. "Do you really have to flirt with everyone you meet?"

JR chuckled. "Mostly the cute ones. What, you jealous?" 

Ranger grunted as he took off his jacket, revealing his white armor he had on since he was freed. "No. Still, that stunt almost got us killed. Should have been better about know ZPD would be there."

JR smirked. "That wasn't ZPD. For one, that fox doesn't look like Wilde. And -"

"And how do you know that he wasn't Wilde if you haven't even met the fox. And don't say you've seen him on those fan sites. Those are just naked foxes with photoshop." Ranger said, with a smug look.

JR blushed. "I... While that may true with those photoshops, I wasn't done yet." He continued. "Second, I saw that guy's wallet. His name was Reynard Ishi. Was around his 30's I think."

The two came to a stop outside an abandoned church, windows cracked and aged, the grey bricks giving the place an ominous mood.

JR sighed. "Grey will probably ask about all this, so...just follow my lead, ok?" 

Ranger nodded. The two exited the car, moving to the front of the church, and knocking on the door. They waited for a bit, then it opened to an older female tiger.

"Joseph! Ranger! You got the stuff Grey wanted." She smiled kindly, letting them into the church. "How did it go?"

JR smiled. "It went... decently. Thanks, Natalie" They went past rows of beds and cooking areas, the place where the pews had been turned into a makeshift sleeping area, mammals of each size given their own area. Seeing that this church was properly made to support nearly every mammal, this place had enough room for about 200 or more. The group was about 100 or so.

They were the Breakers. An individual with enough bridge energy stored (bridge energy was unseen in the environment unless under certain circumstances, but it flowed through every mammal in the world) and either a traumatic injury or an event would cause them to become powered mammals, able to break the rules of reality. Hence the name, coined by the scientists from Terra-1. Joseph had been born among them, had his power since his birth. Since his mom and dad were taken in a raid that took a majority of the early Breakers, Grey had taken him in, raising him to become one of his best men.

The two made their way to Grey's office, ane entered.

Joseph looked up to see the mammal himself, Joshua Grey. A grey fox, with dark parts of his fur around his ears and muzzle. His eyes were a dark green. Part of his ear had been torn off. Wearing a dark coat, he smiled at the two. "So the newcomer has proven his worth?"

Joseph nodded. "Yes." He dropped the duffle bag gently. "He did really good."

Grey looked mildly impressed. "Good. Was there trouble over there?"

Joseph scratched the back of his neck. "Well...ZPD and some other guys were there. We got out pretty fast."

Grey sighed. "ZPD, I can understand. But who were these, other guys?"

"A wolf. Didn't get his name. And a fox. Named Reynard Ishi."

Grey tensed and spoke under his breath. "Ishi...How could he even..." He grumbled and put the thought out of his mind. "Thank you Joseph. If you don't mind, I'll need to talk to Ranger alone."

The wolf nodded, leaving the raccoon alone with Grey.

Grey looked over a file of papers on his desk. "You asked me about your brother's whereabouts." He tossed them over to the raccoon.

"He's not in Chicago anymore. I can't find his exact location, but I do know where he is."

Ranger's fist tightened around the files. "Where?"

Grey's face was neutral as he spoke. "He's here. In this city. Zootopia. But there's something else too. For most of his life, he's believed you left him behind."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> JR's full name is Joseph Rocker


	24. Decisions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Takashi thinks on some things, and Asher wants to find out where the hell his boyfriend's brother might be.

* * *

**April 5th**

**Freelancer HQ, Zootopia**

* * *

Takashi sighed, his attempt to lean back in his chair only making him more uncomfortable. It was a gamble sometimes with his aching back. Not even his reinforced spine helped with that. Science couldn't fix every ailment, he supposed. 

He saw Jack enter the room. The old wolf smiled as he leaned up in the chair. "Good to see you, Jack."

Takashi had raised the boy as his own after his best friend had died. He wanted the best for Jack, in every way possible. Even then, the two hadn't talked much in a while. Mostly kept busy with work and other things. Takashi knew Jack was his own mammal. But with the rise of the Collaboration coming, Takashi was glad to see him whenever he could.

The rabbit smiled. "Likewise. a friend wanted to give you this." He handed the wolf the files.

Takashi skimmed the files. "Mr.Lee still making sure Zoo York is safe. That's something good at least." He put the file down. "How's Rocket doing?"

"Surprisingly well for someone poisoned by a modified Night Howler strain. He's recovering well, along with the Bowman's." Jack said.  "But Barkheart is still out there, planning something big. Something that might turn this city to chaos."

Takashi grimly nodded. "And if the Collaboration wants to send a message, this will be how they do it."

Jack sighed. "Have to agree with you on that. I'm needed back at work." He smiled at the wolf. "I'll be back soon hopefully."

Takashi nodded before the rabbit left, leaving the wolf alone in the office.

He opened his laptop, quickly typing a message. He held his finger over the send button, stopping himself.

"It's been 24 years, damnit..." Takashi muttered to himself. More somber than before. "Rodgers... We need you back. No more anger anymore. Not from me."

He pressed the button.

* * *

Asher groaned in frustration. He had been looking for the past 3 days nonstop through files, old cases, anything really. Almost nothing that might lead them to find Rocket's brother or the other powered mammal. 

When he had told Rocket about his brother a day ago, he wished he had said it when they had actually found him. Now it just felt like he was disappointing the raccoon. 

Rocket needed his brother back. Whatever had been done to him over the years...

Asher just wanted to know why he never came back.

He grimaced while overlooking the computer. "Damnit..." He then felt the soft touch of a paw on his shoulder. 

Sam was looking at him with a tinge of concern. "You need a break." Asher wanted to protest but was quickly moved out of the chair and onto his bed. Sam folded his arms as she looked down at him.

"Sleep." She looked serious. "I'll stay here until you do. And don't fake it."

Asher prepared to grumble a bit but decided it was better to actually nap. His eyes closed shut and he soon fell asleep right on the bed.

* * *

_"Ash!" He could feel the world on fire, burning heat all around him as he attempted to get himself out of the crumbling building._

_His arm was there again, stuck again under the fallen structure of it. He tried in vain to get out as the heat rose._

_And everywhere he looked was Rocket, his body facing away, clearly injured. He tried to move toward him, but every step just pushed him away._

_Finally, his arm had somehow gotten loose, prompting the coyote to finally rush to the raccoon, only to see he wasn't moving. "R-rocky-"_

_The raccoon was barely clinging to life, his breathing fast, his chest was caved in. Blood coming out of his mouth, he spoke. "Why did you....do this to me?"_

_Asher looked at him, his words caught in his tongue. "W-what?"_

_"You crushed my chest in... Said I was gonna hurt you again." Rocket looked down at his injured chest. "You wanted this, didn't you? I'm just a damn criminal, nothing to you..."_

_"Rocket, no..." Asher tried to do something to save Rocket but the raccoon died in his arms, blood soaking his hands._

_The coyote couldn't say anything as the raccoon slowly turned to dust in his hands, the wind dispersing them away. Asher tried to grab it all in vain before-_

* * *

Asher woke up with a shout, feeling himself violently shake as he violently woke up. His mouth felt dry, tears forming in his eyes. He felt like he was in shock, his breathing hard.

He was brought out by someone hugging him, soft paws reaching across his back to comfort him. It was Rocket, still in his hospital outfit.

Asher tried to come up with something to say, but couldn't. "I...I..." He just kept thinking back to that scene in his head. Tears began to flow again, loudly sobbing into the raccoon's chest.

"I thought I killed you." The coyote softly said, muttering into the raccoon's chest. Rocket just stroked the coyote's back softly, saying something about it being okay.

It took a minute for Asher to come back to his senses, his crying slowly stopping. His breathing had gotten back to normal as he got out of the hug. 

Rocket smiled, his smile honest and sincere as he stroked the side of Asher's face. "I was coming in here, and I saw you panicked."

Asher sighed. "I...worked too hard. Needed sleep but, all that worry just gave me a nightmare." He had gotten up out of the bed.

Rocket too was up beside him, holding his paw in his own. Asher felt calmer with his paw in Rocket's.

The coyote smirked at seeing the gown be very revealing in the back. "I'm surprised you're still wearing that. You aren't cold?"

Rocket sighed. "I really should change out of this damn thing." He grumbled as he looked through Asher's drawer. Since they shared a similar build, their clothes fit each other pretty well. He looked for an outfit that might cheer up the coyote. He chuckled.

By the time Rocket was done, he was now wearing a plaid shirt (unbuttoned of course), and jeans. Asher smiled. "Looking good, Rocky." He said honestly. The raccoon did look good in plaid.

Rocket laughed, striking a pose with a smile on his face. He walked up to the coyote. "You feel better now?"

Asher smiled, his teeth shining. "Yeah, I do." He slowly leaning against Rocket, feeling the soft fluffy fur on his chest. "Thank you Rocky."

Rocket had never really felt the two sides of love before Asher. Them being there for you, and you being there for them. He had felt Asher's pain on the train, his guilt and fear over losing his arm and his friends. He had felt guilt over him hurting Asher, his fear of losing himself and hurting someone he cared about. It felt good in his heart to be here now for Asher, making him not scared of being lost. He again gathering his arms into a hug, feeling the weight of Asher on him.

"I got you Ash..."

* * *

 It was morning, light shining through the warehouse that only had one occupant. A wolf, dressed in a t-shirt and pants. Off to the side of the room was his armor, jet-black, and a shield, no longer shining bright but scarred and beaten. The brown-gold furred wolf got up off the mattress. as a message pinged from his device. He looked down at it before his eyes narrowed.

"Takashi." He sighed before turned off the device.

Rodgers grumbled before picking up his go-bag, along with putting on his armor and pinning the shield on his back.

24 years since he had been in Zootopia. 24 years of anger at what Takashi had done. But now the enemy was back. 

It's time to come back home.


	25. Short Change Hero

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rocket keeps his hopes up on finding his brother

* * *

**April 9th**

**Freelancer HQ**

* * *

 

 

It had been a week since the incident and Rocket was restless. Most of his time now was just spent on trying to rehearse what he might even say to his lost brother. And all of the words felt like something that would never come out of his mouth.

_"Why did you never try to come back? What happened to you? Why did the Collaboration take you and not m-"_

Rocket was broken out of these thoughts as a hot drink was put down in front of him by Sam, looking at the raccoon with a twinge of concern. "Thought you would like some coffee," Sam said, sitting across from Rocket.

The raccoon sighed, smiling honestly at the coyote's kind gesture. "Thanks. I needed it." He sipped it slowly, taking in the warm taste of the coffee flavor.

Sam smiled at Rocket's emotion of bliss, glad to see Rocket in a better mood. "Ash wanted to see you in a little bit, thinks he found something."

Rocket ears perked up. "Found something?" This might mean they found Ranger. He didn't even figure out what to say when he would find. Rocket cringed a bit on the inside. He needed to think more before approaching this.

"Something that might be big. He told me, but says he didn't want to tell the rest of Freelancer."

Rocket's eyes narrowed. "Why?"

Leaning against the wall, Sam sighed. "He said it was something with the thing he found that Freelancer did with it. Didn't know what exactly but... he didn't specify details." Sam grabbed her coffee before moving to leave the room. "He also said he left something in your room. He said it was important."

As the coyote left the room, Rocket wondered what exactly did Asher leave in his room. Sure, he could think of some ideas (some not too safe for work), but not many that he might tell his sister to tell him to grab. He went up to his room, opening the door to look in.

The thing Asher had left him was on his bed. Dark clothes that were armored, obviously meant for stealth operations.  He smirked as he put them, pants first before taking off his shirt and putting on the flexible armored top. The raccoon looked in the mirror. 

He whistled as he looked in the mirror. "This looks damn fine." Rocket looked over himself, the thin body showing off his muscles. While Rocket looked lean, the raccoon could probably keep up in a fight against a mammal more than twice his size.

Rocket had to wonder what Asher might look like when the question was answered for him. The coyote entered the room, smiling as he looked at the happy raccoon. He too was wearing a stealth uniform, his more tan robotic left arm now was black, a stealth variant. Asher went up to Rocket, hugging him softly with his head cradled on his shoulder.

"So what do you think?" Asher said as Rocket overlooked both of the uniforms. "Didn't know if you wanted sleeves or not, but it looks great on you.

Rocket blushed. "Love it. Love yours too." Rocket motioned into a kiss, passionate as Asher also moved to embrace him. Rocket let out a low growl as it went heated up, before disengaging from the kiss. "So what's the big thing you needed me for."

Asher's expression grew a bit more serious as he whipped out a small tablet. "When I was looking up on possible incidents of mammals with powers of some sort, I came across a huge list of incidents right around the time that Freelancer started. Which was also at the same time the conflict with the other world came to an end." The coyote pulled up a graphic map of the city, little spots of light showing up all over the city.

Rocket looked quizzically at it. "What the hell is it?" Nearly everywhere was covered in said light, almost all of them around public places.

"This tech was abandoned in the mid 90's. What I think it was supposed to do what find possible surges of powers, but nearly every public place has the same amount of energy. No way anyone could find a small group of people. Until I saw something that stood out." He scrolled with his paw over to a minor part of the city on the electronic map, right onto of a church that looked abandoned.

Rocket crossed his arms. "Doesn't look like anything to me?" It seemed similarly lit up to the other parts of the city.

Asher nodded. "Exactly. But when I started going through the data... nearly everywhere else had a variable of Bridge energy going up and down nearly every day. But this place? It's never changed for at least a few years until recently."

"Then... this is it, isn't it? He's here, right?" Rocket got excited, nervously shaking a bit. Asher grabbed him softly, calming the raccoon down as he tried to keep his composure. 

"I don't know. But we have to see for ourselves. Alright? I can't promise that, but hopefully, Ranger is there." Asher said softly.

Rocket croaked out in a voice close to crying. "I-I'm not sure if I can do this." Asher took Rocket into a deep hug, the coyote stroking Rocket's head softly as the raccoon began to shake. 

Asher spoke quietly. "I'll be with you til the end of this, got it? I'm not leaving you behind." The two stayed in the hug for a few minutes, the time spent feeling more like hours. Rocket felt the embrace slowly calm him down, the feeling of Asher just being there making him feel ready to do what he had been waiting years to do.

"Let's go get my brother back."

* * *

 


	26. R and R

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rocket and Asher hope to find Ranger, but come upon a setback that reveals new information.

**Wanted to prelude this chapter with a pic I got from Tytoz of Ranger!**

****

* * *

 

**April 9th**

**"Ranger's possible location."**

* * *

 

It was the two of them now, crouching down in the bushes as they looked over the abandoned building. Didn't even seem like there was much activity, usually the occasional passerby that just walked by.

Rocket grumbled, part of him wanting to just rush in. But he kept his emotions inside as he kept his senses alert. "We can just go in there. These guys might not even be hostile." 

Asher's eyes narrowed. "I would've agreed with you on that. But why didn't anyone else notice these guys before? I'm thinking that they did notice this energy signal before. And ignored it on purpose." He flexed his leg some, still a bit numb from sitting so long. "I think whoever these people were, Freelancer and them might have bad blood."

Rocket shivered a bit at the cold. "You sure that sitting here freezing our butts off is the best move? I..." He sighed softly. "I just want to find him."

Asher looked over into the somber raccoon's eyes and slowly smiled. "Alright. We'll try it. But the second shit goes down, we'll have to get out of there. No telling what those mammals might have in their arsenal." The coyote cocked his pistol before holstering it. He put his sweat jacket on over his stealth suit as Rocket did the same, then the two approached the church door.

Rocket looked down before knocking slowly.

And nothing came.

He did it again.

Nothing.

It was after the fourth time that Asher stopped him, the raccoon huffing in a mix of anger and tears. "Rocket." 

Rocket stopped as Asher relaxed his grip, before he heard something behind him, whirling around.

A trio of mammals, all wolves. They wore jackets with hoods covering their faces, one green, one red, and one white. It was then that Rocket noticed one of them was the red-jacketed wolf that Fenrir had spoken about. He growled as he saw the other ones had makeshift weapons. 

"You really should've stayed home,  _Killers."_ The right wolf said, his tone bitter on the last word. "Might as well take off the hood before we kill you."

Rocket took it off in a flash, revealing his face to the trio. "I'm not your fucking enemy. I'm just here for someone."

The Red Jacketed wolf froze at seeing the reveal, catching his breath before cursing. "Dimitri, he's right. We don't ha-"

The White jacketed wolf growled at the remark, glancing with anger at him. "Fuck you, Rocker. You seem to always want to leave these pricks alive." He looked over at Asher and Rocket with a glint of satisfaction in his eyes. "I think taking two out of this world is always a good thing." Dimitri ran first towards Rocket, a knife drawn in his paw and ready to strike. 

Asher met his swipe with a defensive block from his robotic arm, the clinking of metal breaking the silence. The other wolf attacked, striking a pipe across Asher's leg. The coyote cursed, kneeling from the pain as Dimitri continued his assault. 

Rocket intervened, kicking Dimitri away from Asher. "We're not killers, you fucking prick!"

He dodged the pipe swung by the other wolf, rolling away from the strike and out of Asher's vision.

Asher grunted as he attempted to disarm the knife from Dimitri's paw, Dimitri swiping and stabbing in an attempt to take him down. Asher had already been cut slightly by the blade, the pain in his arm growing higher before suddenly realizing it was getting worse.

Dimitri noticed this, grinning. "Now you feel it, don't you?" He swiped again, hitting Asher in the chest. 

The coyote went down on his knee, breathing harder. The pain was unbearable, he could barely even speak. The wolf crouched down next to him, placing the knife right by his heart. Not enough to penetrate, but if he fell down onto it... 

Asher tried in vain to get up but the feeling of just falling was getting closer and closer, the wolf waiting for Asher to fall onto the blade. Until a blur hit Dimitri, seconds before the coyote flopped down onto the ground. 

He could see the shape hitting the wolf, again and again. Each strike getting harder and harder. He could hear what sounded like a low roar in his eyes, the pitch getting higher and higher. He tried to move something, anything, but it felt like his body couldn't do anything.

Finally, the pain was too much, and Asher passed out.

* * *

 

Asher's vision was still a blur as he woke up, in a bed of some sort. He cursed softly, trying to get up, but found himself unable to. He bound down to a bed with handcuffs. His arm had been taken off, left on a nearby table. He sighed, curling his body to look for the scar that the knife had given him, only to find it had healed extremely fast, leaving only a pink-ish impression.

 His eyesight slowly began to become more clear, allowing him to see the wolf from before, Rocker or whoever he was, looking at him warily. 

"You're awake." He crossed his arms. "I was worried it would be at least a few more hours until the healing took effect, but looks like you're fine now." He was still wearing his red jacket and jeans. 

"Who are you?" Asher's mind was still focused on figuring out where he was and where Rocket was. "Where's Rocket?" 

Rocker kneeled by the coyote. "He's fine. When the fighting started, I went for Ranger. He stepped in and stopped the fighting. And as for my name, I'm JR. Joseph Rocker." He extended his paw, and Asher shook it.

"I... remember something attacking the wolf who stabbed me. Was that... Ranger?" Asher said as JR undid the restraints.

JR sighed. "He... went into a rage. Honestly, I'm surprised Dimitri has a face left. He was being hit so hard I thought his face caved in. We healed him of course, but honestly, I don't think he'll forget that... or forgive it." The wolf grabbed the arm, passing it to Asher. The coyote put it back on, a soft snap being heard as it moved into place.

Asher followed JR out of the room, seeing that now he was in the main section of the abandoned church. He could see different mammals all about, some trying to avoid his wandering gaze as they milled around. Whoever these people were, they seemed like a stable community. 

He could see a group of people at the front, Rocket next to what looked like a taller version of him with orange eyes, and a dark grey fox speaking to the two. When they noticed them approaching, Rocket's face lit up and he ran over to Asher, hugging him hard.

"We really need to stop getting hurt like this." Rocket said jokingly, before nuzzling his muzzle next to Asher. He held on to Asher for a minute or two before receding back.

 The dark grey fox crossed his arms, his expression seeming wary yet relieved. "Suprised you are even standing, Mr.Bowman. Usually, the pain of Dimitri's power leaves some mammals unable to even get back up after a few days, even with increased healing. " 

"Honestly, I've been through worse. And I'm surprised you even let me out." Asher responded. "And you also have my name. What about your name?"

"Just Grey for now," Grey said. "Dimitri can be a loose cannon but he went after you without my permission. And I do apologize for that." He turned to leave quickly. "I do need to finish up something, but in the meantime, You can talk to Ranger. He really wanted to meet you."

Asher nodded, then turned his attention to the other raccoon, Ranger. "And you're Ranger."

The older raccoon nodded. "I am. I... wanted to thank you for being there for Rocket." He looked sincere as he spoke. "I... missed a lot of time with him. And he changed. He's not the same little brother I knew before. But I think you brought part of him back out that I remember. You saved him." He embraced Asher in a hard hug for a minute.

Asher could feel Rocket's paw intertwine with his, and he smiled, because he knew that Rocket was happy.


	27. Thank you Fanramen!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just a little shout out to the people over at fanramen!  
> https://www.fanramen.com/

Today, Fanramen uploaded the first chapter of Animals on their podcast. It is amazing and worth a good watch!

https://soundcloud.com/fanramen/menu-7-zootopia-beyond-the-boundary

 

In other news, I'm still in kind of a writer's block, and school starting is also making that worse (lol).

I hope to do another actual chapter soon!

 

In the meantime, I'm gonna plug another author and friend I follow here on Ao3 that does great work with Rocket, Madness-on-the-milano! She does great Rocket stories and I want her to get more viewers. :D

https://archiveofourown.org/users/madness_on_the_milano/pseuds/madness_on_the_milano Her stuff is some of my favorite works :D

anyway, glad to post this up! :)


	28. The Guilty Father

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A focus onto Barkheart and his ongoings

 

* * *

**April 9th**

**Barkheart's Base**

* * *

 

This place didn't feel right to Barkheart. While the Collaboration moved his people from place to place, none ever felt like the safety he used to have in his church. The place he felt was his home. After his home was left to die by this city, so many years ago. But Emil did not want to think of the past. He wanted to think of the future. The city burning for its sins. All mammals seeing that it was never some "perfect" place, but that it was flawed and corrupt.  **  
**

And the Collaboration agreed with him. And for months he's worked with them to get everything ready, to let this city stand as an example of what the false rules do. 

But for the first time in a while, Emil Icarus Barkheart felt regret.

He was in his study, planning what would be next when the feeling hit him. Something that made his stomach crawl. He tried to focus, but it wouldn't get out of his head. 

Why? He had prepared for this ever since his wife and child were killed. Taken from him where he could not go. Where he should be instead. 

He had felt the fire the protesters had thrown into his house late at night, feeling the burning on his body as his family was consumed. He had wanted to ask why, why them too? He was the one at fault, the one who deserved fire. But he was found. Saved by God, many might say among his people.

But the people who carried him out of his hell were not gods. They were the devil.

Emil had seen the cost of not listening to their commands many times when seeing their high command. Many mammals who did not listen or just tried to change the course were crushed under their feet. Sometimes literally. He was thankful that their plans for taking down this city were well aligned.

It was then looking at the picture on his desk, one of him, Sariah, and Nilos, that he realized why he had that feeling. His family knew of what he had done, what he will do in the future.

He sighed. They might never forgive him. If this would send him to the deepest hells, so be it. It would allow him to feel at peace.

His thoughts were interrupted by the intrusion of one of his apprentices, a smaller wolf who could not meet his gaze. "F-father Barkheart."

"Speak," Barkheart said, moving away from his desk. He looked down at the wolf with an annoyed gaze.

"Mr.Kells wanted to talk to you again." The apprentice said softly. 

Barkheart cringed slightly. "Did he say what he wanted?"

"No."

Barkheart cursed in his head. "Fine. Send him in."

The apprentice exited, right before Kells stepped in, golden eyes glimmering in the dark light of the study. "This place really needs some light. Staying in the dark is a bit bad for your health."

Barkheart's ears narrowed down, slightly showing a bit of hostility. "What do you want?"

Kells smirked. "My boss wants to know if the plan is all settled yet. Details all ironed out." 

Barkheart stared him down. "They are. Everything is ready for your men to take over what we need. The only thing that we have to worry about is our main objective. The Weaponized Bliss." 

"And how's that going for you?" Kells leaned against the wall, folding his arms. 

"Getting it to have the same properties in gas form has proved, to only be successful 50% of the time. It seems to dilute the chemicals, only allowing it to affect half the mammals in a room. While not as good as we ho-"

"Sounds good to me."

Barkheart jerked back. "What?"

Kells sighed. "Listen, Barkie. I know your hate-boner for the city is so big you want them all dead. But to leave a message, well, we need survivors. Mammals who've seen the carnage and everything that will happen. What I'm saying is, if it's already at 50%, that's exactly what we need."

Barkheart's face crumbled into anguish. "I was promised retribution! Zootopia destroyed! Every last foundation in ashes! Every mammal being shown a true path to being an animal!" In his blind anger, he approached Kells with a sense of suicidal anger. "I wil-"

Kells cut him off with a quick kick to the leg before the wolf got Barkheart into a chokehold. He sputtered some as Kells kept light pressure on him.

"Barkie, Barkie, Barkie. I get it. Changing of plans like this might get anyone mad. But trying to attack me? Really?"

Barkheart tried to say something but the pressure on his throat was keeping him from responding.

Kells continued. "I get why you want this so bad. People kill your family because of your views, the city doesn't care, they never go after the people who did cause they were just prey, yadda yadda yadda. But there are bigger things at play here. So let me give you a little hint."

He got his muzzle right up to Barkheart's ear and whispered.

" _We can always find another just like you"_

Barkheart crumbled down to the floor, feeling utterly defeated. Kells stood over him.

"So, is the chemical ready?"

Barkheart stared down at the ground, now realizing that feeling he felt before was right. It was not the guilt of letting this city die. It was the guilt of letting his ideal be betrayed and twisted.

"Yes."

Kells nodded, leaving the older wolf alone. Barkheart curled his fist. 

He'll let this happen, then when the time is right, they will perish with him in the gas.

And they will all burn in hell.


	29. Breakaway

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Asher and Rocket finally get Ranger back.

                                                                         

Another well-done pic by Tytoz :D

It's been a while since I last did a chapter but I hope you guys are ready for some more! :D

* * *

  **April 10th**

* * *

 Honestly, it had been so long that Rocket had really forgotten that feeling of having a brother, a family member that would stand by him and care for him. And now years later, the two connected back together again, feelings and emotions overflowing. It made Rocket feel complete. Like putting together broken glass into what he was before.

And it was thanks to Asher that he had this chance. Without the coyote, he didn't even know where'd he be. Most likely dead, in his opinion. Working on the wrong side of the law often ended like that, whether it was the police or his own people. 

Rocket was still hugging Asher now, his breath calm as he felt all the emotion overwhelming him like a tidal wave. He nuzzled the coyote a bit, prompted Asher to smile, nuzzling him back in an affectionate embrace.

Though the cute moment was interrupted by Ranger chuckling. "Damn Rocky, you sure really do love this guy." 

Rocket blushed, getting out of the embrace and sheepishly scratching the back of his head. "Y-yeah." 

The three of them talking for a while, Ranger telling them most of what had happened to him in the years he had been taken and used by the Collaboration as a test subject. His memories on everything were thin, not really at a constant point. Sometimes he remembered other prisoners being there, of all types of mammals. But most of it was dark, blank and pitch black. A void.

"And one time, I saw something not even from this world. Entirely bald, no fur at all." Ranger spoke.

Asher hummed as he remembered something from before. "I think I know what you are talking about. A human?" 

Ranger's ears perked up. "Yes, you're totally right! I remember hearing that word. Honestly, his appearance freaked me out a bit." His paws trembled a bit, the phantom effect of his power appearing for a brief moment.

"So this guy was one of the prisoners?"

Ranger did not nod his head. "No. He was one of the ones in charge."

Asher grimaced. The only world he really knew that had these "humans" was Terra 3, and now a human was with the Collaboration? This didn't look good. 

Rocket sighed. "Range, I wish I could have done something for you. If had known, I..." The raccoon let the thought stop in his mouth, looking defeated. Ranger put his arm on Rocket's shoulder, looking at the smaller raccoon.

"It's not your fault, Rocket. Not at all." Ranger comforted the raccoon. "It's theirs. We end this and make sure they don't take anyone else ever again." 

Rocket sniffed a bit before looking up at Ranger with eyes of hope. "You're goddamn right."

* * *

 The trio had made their way outside, only for JR to catch up with them. 

"I'm coming with." The wolf said, reaching them. "Grey wants me to keep an eye on you."

Rocket rolled his eyes. "We already told you guys we have no trouble. What is his thing about us anyway?"

JR sighed. "He didn't really tell me. Just said to follow you and make sure the group you're don't try to do anything to us." He shrugged. "Freelancer or whatever I think they are called."

Rocket was prepared to tell him to bugger off but Asher gave him a look and he groaned. "Alright, fine. Be glad we got a car big enough for 5 mammals."

The four of them got into the car, buckling up and soon setting out from the main section of the city. Asher was driving, Rocket in the front seat, and the two others in the back.

Rocket kept looking in the mirror at the two. "So JR was the one who got you out." 

Ranger nodded. "Yeah. Almost killed him because I was in a panic, but now we're pretty good. He's helped me learn about most of the stuff I missed while I was away. Lots of good songs I never got the chance to listen to." He scratched the back of his head with his paw. "He sings to."

Rocket smirked. "Really? Damn. Pretty neat. Thought I could sing when I was younger, but my voice sounded very off. I'm sure you remember when I tried to play guitar for the neighbors." 

The older raccoon laughed. "Very off was an understatement, Rocky. You probably caused the neighborhood hearing damage from that makeshift boombox you made when you were 9!" 

All those in the car laughed at that, old memories shining through the two raccoons. The bond had never waned during their time apart, it had just stayed the same somehow. And with them now back together, Rocket and Ranger were happy. 

JR smiled, glad to see Ranger smiling. To be honest with himself, he found the older raccoon attractive, but even asking the question seemed like too much for him. He wanted to make their friendship more real before he thought of approaching that point. He leaned back, laughing at all the old stories that were told. 

Asher's phone vibrated in his pocket, messages that he couldn't answer until he got to a stop. Finally at a red light, he was able to pull out his phone, seeing a few messages from Fenrir.

 **F-Where did ya go last night? Hoping you're all good. Me and Rey are out doing a bit of recon. -** _9:30 am_

Asher quickly typed out a reply.

 **A-Sounds more like a date then just recon. :smirk:** _\- 9:34 am_

Fenrir wrote back.

 **F-It's not. Jerk. :annoyed: And yes it's an actual recon. We caught a delinquent who saw something and are about to take him in for questioning now. So far, nothing. -** _9:34 am_

Asher was about to hit reply when a boom broke out from the sounds of the city, leaving it in a moment of silence. His ears perked up, seeing the others heard it as well. "What was that?"

Rocket grimaced. "I bet it was nothing." But he could sense a bit of panic in the coyote's voice.

 **A- Fen, did you hear that explosion? Just checking in on you. -** _9:36am Not Read_

 **A- Are you still there?**   _-9:36am Not Read_

 **A- Fen?** _-9:36 am Not Read_

 

* * *

 

 

 


End file.
